Don't Go Dreaming
by MMCCLX
Summary: Naruto begins having strange dreams that appear to let him glimpse the future. But is what these dreams show truly a vision of things to come?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Naruto sped through the forest, dark trees raced past him as he ran. In the daylight, these tall, proud trees would have been something grand and beautiful, but the dim glow of the moon twisted them into something menacing. It occurred to him, as he ran to wherever it was he was going, that he had no idea where he was, and couldn't recall how he got here. The endless parade of trees gave him nothing to work with, and so he came to the natural conclusion that he needed to climb up one to get his bearings. This was the plan his mind came up with, anyway, but as soon as he tried to put it into motion, he quickly found that the rest of him had other ideas. His body completely ignored his efforts to slow down or change course.

Puzzled, he gave another attempt at moving his body, this time with more force behind the effort, and again was met with a complete lack of response. It was bewildering, having his own body disobey him. It was as if someone had managed to mix the feeling of being bound by rope with that of being forced by gravity to jog down a steep hill. He made another frantic attempt to regain control of himself, and panic began to set in him when his body sped on as if he was no longer occupying it.

This must have been the work of an enemy ninja, Naruto quickly decided. Someone looking to take out the future Hokage had used a jutsu to make him come out here. Just ahead they stood waiting, with a kunai in hand and an evil gleam in their eye. Naruto threw himself into getting his legs to stop, or grabbing the trunk of a tree, or _anything_ that could keep him from continuing on to what was surely his doom. It was no use, even his chakra was now out of his control. The steady _crunch, crunch, crunch_ of leaves underfoot marked each step closer to a waiting death.

There was a sudden feeling of his leg catching against what was most likely a root, and as he stumbled he felt something bulky shift on his back. He couldn't turn his head to see what he was carrying, but as his body reach behind him to steady it, he was able to discern that it was very large and solid. What, exactly, was he carrying? The papery feel and rough shape of the thing reminded him of a scroll, but he'd never seen one as big as this thing felt. So maybe, Naruto reasoned, it was a special scroll that contained something top-secret and vital to Konoha. And that was why someone was forcing him to bring it out here!

Pride swelled briefly within him, but his continued trek through the dim forest quickly served to remind him that there wasn't anything he could do about it. With a new urgency, he tried again to take back control of his body. As before, there was no response. The fear that had been creeping up on him now gave way to outright panic. He was headed straight toward an enemy of the village, one powerful enough to steal his body from him, to give away important secrets, and there was nothing he could do to stop himself. Naruto strained with everything he had against his rouge limbs. He couldn't let this happen. He would not let himself be forced into betraying Konoha. He had to stop. Stop.

_Stop_.

And suddenly it seemed like his body listened. Naruto skidded to a halt, and bent over for a moment to catch his breath. However, even though he had finally stopped, the movements of his body were still not his own. Which could only mean he'd reached his destination. Had he been able to, Naruto would've been darting his head around to look for potential threats in the trees and getting ready for a fight. As it was though, all he could do was sit in his own head, and watch through unresponsive eyes as his body remained totally oblivious. Then, as if to spite him, his body pulled the scroll off his back and plopped down to the ground. He leaned back against a tree before, incredibly, his body began humming to itself.

This couldn't be real. It was like some sort of sick joke. He was now almost literally a sitting duck.

Yet just as he was bracing himself for the inevitable attack, he suddenly felt himself reaching for the scroll laying on the ground next to him. To Naruto's utter confusion, his body placed it in his lap and pulled it open.

"Hmm," he heard himself say as his eyes focused on the text. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu..." he read aloud as his eyes passed over the words. He heard himself groan and his hand was brought up to rub the side of his face. "Man, why's it always gotta be clones?" The hand slid down his face, pulling at his cheek, and dropped heavily back to his side.

What was he supposed to make of this? His body was talking on it's own, with no input from him. Was this part of the jutsu's control, or had his body actually developed a mind of its own? Did it know that he was still in here with it?

"...catra use, dangerous, blah blah blah..." Naruto's body mumbled as it skimmed past a warning preceding the description of the jutsu. It was then, as whatever was controlling him began to read in earnest, that Naruto discovered that not being able to control the movements of his eyes was absolutely maddening. His gaze, focused straight ahead as it was during the trip, had kept him from truly noticing before. Here, though, as his eyes darted around the page, there was no avoiding it. He dearly wished to look up and see if someone was coming, but his eyes remained glued to the text. His body had decided they were going to read this scroll, and so that was what they were doing.

Though, now that he payed attention to the instructions in front of him, this jutsu didn't seem all that complicated. A diagram showed that it required only a single, if somewhat unusual, cross hand sign, and the written portion described it as nearly identical to the ordinary bunshin technique. The only difference seemed to be that extra effort and chakra were needed to make the clones solid.

"I could do this," Naruto's body apparently agreed with him. His head bobbed up and down in a quick nod. "Yeah, this is easy. I can do this," it repeated as if to reassure itself. His body rolled the scroll back up, laid it against the tree, and stood.

His hands brushed dirt on his pant legs, before being raised up toward the sky in a stretch. Despite the situation, Naruto couldn't help feeling anxious about whether or not he would be able to pull this off. It might not have actually been him, but he found himself hoping for a success regardless. His eyes closed, a deep breath was taken, and then they snapped back open as his lips pulled backed in what he assumed was a grin. His hands came together, the first two fingers from each hand brought together in a cross, and Naruto felt his chakra come alive within him.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" his voice rang out through the still trees. His chakra flared up, coursed through his body, and then at once pulsed outward.

All of a sudden there was the feeling of a large, heavy, lumpy mass falling on him, and the image of the forest abruptly faded to black. Naruto instinctively thrashed about in a blind fit of panic, his body now deciding to obey him, and the thing on top of him also started moving. As he pushed up against the weight it rolled off of him, and he heard the sound of bedsprings being compressed next to him. His eyes flew open and in one swift movement he was on his knees facing the intruder.

Naruto had, by this point, been ready for most anything. An enemy shinobi or even the Old Man complete with robes and hat laying there would not have been a surprise. What was not expected, though, was to see himself looking up at him with his own blue eyes. There was a momentary pause as the two Narutos simply stared at each other, one wide eyed with his jaw hanging slack, the other tilting his head slightly in mild confusion, and then the original leaped from the bed.

"_Who the hell are you_!?" Naruto pointed at his duplicate. His voice came out unusually squeaky. The other Naruto sat up in a much more casual manner and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm Naruto," the duplicate stated.

"Wh- You really think I'm gonna believe that?" the first Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I wanna know for real. Who are you, and what're you doing in my house?" he demanded.

"I just told you!" the clone said, indignant. "I'm Naruto, you moron!"

"That doesn't even make any sense! How could-" Naruto paused as mid-sentence as he regarded his clone, before his gaze hardened. He grabbed the duplicate by his collar and pulled him up so they were face to face. "You're the bastard that took over my body!"

"No I'm not!" the clone denied hotly. "I didn't have nothing to do with that!" he grabbed Naruto's hands and pulled them off him. "'Sides," he said, glancing around the room. "I think that was a dream."

"Eh?"

"I mean, you did just get out of bed," the duplicate pointed out.

It was true that most of his dreams ended with him waking up in bed. Still, that hadn't been anything like his other dreams. The sight of trees rushing past, the smell of the forest, even the burning in his legs from the run were all still perfectly clear in his head. In fact, he wasn't even sure that he'd actually woken up. He'd been fully conscious and aware while in the dream, and that consciousness had simply continued into the real world. Naruto shook his head, and decided to return to the more urgent concern of the mirror image of himself sitting on his bed.

"But then what about you?" he asked, skepticism clear on his face.

"What about me?"

"Even if you're telling the truth, I still don't know who you are, and don't give me that crap about being me neither," Naruto added as the other opened his mouth. "You're not me, I'm me," he pointed to his chest.

"Well yeah but..." the clone trailed off as a thought occurred to him. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "You remember at the end of the dream, you did that jutsu, right?"

"Yeah the clone jutsu, so-" It clicked in Naruto's head. "You mean you're a clone?"

"I guess so," the clone answered, not completely sure himself.

"But, wait," Naruto's eyes squinted shut. "You just said that was a dream, right? Then how come I learned a real jutsu from it?"

"Uh..." the clone didn't have an answer for that. His eyes squeezed shut to match the original's and his brow furrowed in thought.

"Maybe," he said after a few seconds, his face brightening. "We just made it up in our sleep 'cause we're super amazing geniuses like that!"

"That makes sense," the original Naruto conceded. "But I dunno, it still seems kinda fishy."

"Well," the clone began, exasperated. "How 'bout this: try ending the jutsu. If I'm really a clone I'll disappear, right?"

"Right," Naruto agreed, before something occurred to him. "But if I end it and you are a clone, doesn't that mean you'll, like, die or something?"

"I..." the clone was caught off guard. "I dunno," he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I mean, I'm just a clone, but I feel real, y'know? So maybe we-" the clone moved to stand up, but his foot was tangled in the sheets. He tumbled over the bed, smacked his head against the floor, and popped out of existence like a big balloon. The real Naruto leaped back, and was left gawking the dissipating puff of smoke in front of him.

Just a second later, a flash of memory went off in his mind. It began with the stinging feeling of cracking his head against the floor, and he clutched his skull at the phantom pain. Then as the new memory focused in his mind, he was left with the bizarre experience of having two recollections the conversation he'd just had. One where he was himself, talking to the clone, and another where he was the clone talking to himself. Confused and disoriented, he stood there, hand on his head, for nearly a full minute as he tried to digest the foreign memories.

Well, at least now he could say with some certainty that the other Naruto really had been a bunshin. He frowned. It hadn't been a very good bunshin, though. One hit on the head and the thing goes up in a cloud of smoke. He couldn't even remember the amount of times he'd been hit on the head, though by now he was sure it was in the triple digits, and he was still here. It just wasn't right for anything made by him to die that easily. Though, the uneasy thought returned, if it was a clone, could it truly die? It had said that it felt like a real person, it certainly acted like a real person, yet when the the jutsu had dispelled he had gained all of its memories. Surely that meant that it was just a part of him, right? It had been, after all, made of chakra, and in that respect was no different from an ordinary bunshin.

Yet this clone had been alive in a way the normal ones hadn't. He'd never been able to actually talk to his regular bunshin. Granted, that was mostly because they didn't do much besides lay on the ground twitching, but still. Naruto turned away from the bed. What could he do, then? Should he just try to bring it back? Naruto looked down at his hands. Like everything else in that dream, he could recall quite clearly how to perform the jutsu. With a bit of hesitancy, Naruto brought his hands together into the cross-shaped seal. He had no way of knowing if this jutsu would work, if the first clone was just a fluke, or if he'd be bringing back the same clone even if it did work. But those questions would never be answered if he didn't go through with this, and so with that in mind he began to focus his chakra.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" his cried out as his chakra flared out from within him.

It was very abrupt, one moment there was nothing in front of him, and the next there were once again two Narutos in the apartment. Hands still held in the the seal, he stared apprehensively at the clone as it gazed right back at him.

"So?" Naruto asked, lowering his hands. "Did it work?"

"I'm not sure," the clone answered slowly with a frown. "How do I know if it worked or not?"

"Are you the same Naruto as the last guy?"

"Um, well," the clone began slowly, his eyes squinted shut as he mulled the question over. "I'm Naruto," he stated finally.

"Yeah, but are you the same Naruto?" Naruto pressed.

"I'm Naruto," the clone repeated.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his hands on his face. So it didn't work. Or it did. Who knew? Certainly not either one of him.

"Okay, fine," he said bringing his hands back down. "You're here now, and you're not going anywhere, got that? No tripping over your feet like a dumbass this time."

The clone scowled at the insult. "Like I need you telling me what to do," he spat. "And don't call me a dumbass. I'm you, so if I'm a dumbass you're a dumbass, dumbass."

Naruto glared at his copy, who was more than happy to return the dirty look. Neither was willing to back down, so they stood squaring off for a long moment. Then, the clones eyes happened to shift over to the wall behind him. As soon as they did, its defiant expression suddenly gave way to one of dawning horror.

"What?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the copy. It didn't say anything, but only raised its hand to point behind him. Following its finger, he saw that it was pointing at his calendar.

"Yeah so wha-" Naruto began before it hit him. The genin test! He spun to the clock and felt a thrill of terror go through him as he read the time. He had to be at the academy in less than twenty minutes!

"Crap crap crap," Naruto panicked as he dashed to his closet. He nearly ripped the door off its hinges as he yanked it open, and began to dig through the pile of clothes on the floor. He managed to find a shirt that didn't smell too funny, along with his only pair of pants, and tore them from the pile. Tearing off his pajamas, he tossed them carelessly aside before throwing on his clothes. As he frantically dressed himself, his clone watched him curiously, and it wasn't until Naruto made for his shoes that it decided to speak up.

"Hey wait," it called. Naruto's head whipped around, toe-less shoe in hand.

"Huh?"

"What about me?" it asked. "What am I 'sposed to do?"

"I don't know," Naruto's attention was focused on not falling over as he tried to get his shoes on. "Stay here I guess."

The clone crossed his arms and stuck his lip out. "I don't wanna."

"What?" Naruto asked, caught off guard

"How come you get to go out and take tests and stuff?" the clone demanded. "I wanna go too."

"No," Naruto said.

"Why not?" the clone asked petulantly.

"You're still in your PJ's for crying out loud," Leaning against a wall, Naruto tugged his second sandal over his foot and then headed for the door. "Just wait here, okay? I'll be back in a little while." The clone was having none of it, though, and followed after him.

"I'm going," it said, its tone final as it stared at him with his own stubborn eyes. Naruto didn't have time to stand there and argue with himself. He only had about fifteen minutes left before he'd be late.

"Fine," he relented. "But I'm not gonna wait for you if you can't keep up."

The clone gave a broad grin. "Yeah right. Bet I get there before you."

000

The clone managed to live up to his boast, but only just. It burst through the front doors of the ninja academy with its flesh and blood counterpart not half a step behind him. But there was no time for gloating, and they both barreled down the halls of the academy with a speed that could have peeled the paint from the walls. The door to their classroom shortly came into view and the clone charged at it with the real Naruto nipping at his heels. The bunshin reached the door first and threw it open as they both piled into the room. All of the genin hopefuls in the class spun their heads around at the sound of the door slamming open.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out from behind his bunshin. "I'm here!"

This was not the first time Naruto had done something unexpected or outrageous. Indeed, the whole experience of teaching the unruly boy was largely an exercise in testing one's capacity for surprise. So when two Narutos came bursting through the door, one still in his pajamas, Iruka hardly needed a second to collect himself.

"Alright, Naruto, explain," the chūnin instructor ordered.

Naruto grinned nervously, and rubbed the back of his head. He'd always been a glutton for attention, but now with everyone's eyes on him he felt oddly exposed. "Well, y'see, it's kinda a long story."

"Then give us a summary," Iruka replied with forced calm.

"Uh, okay," Naruto began hesitantly. "Well, I was having this dream-"

"A really weird messed up dream!" the clone interjected. Naruto shot it a glare.

"He asked me to tell it!" the original snapped. The bunshin gave him a sour look and turned away to sulk. "Right, so I was dreaming, and there was this jutsu and when I did the jutsu this guy fell on me!" he jerked his head at the clone.

"That wasn't me!" the bunshin disputed. "That was that other one! The dumbass who tripped!"

"But you and him are the same guy!" Naruto argued. "He was me, and you're me!"

"No," the clone denied. "That was a different you. I'm not the same you that he was."

"What!?" Naruto threw his hands up. "What the hell are you talking about? That doesn't even-"

"_Naruto_!" Iruka shouted. They both flinched and turned their attention back to their sensei. Iruka stalked up to them and gave a whithering glare to the properly dressed Naruto.

"What do you think you're trying to do, Naruto?" Iruka demanded, his voice carrying a familiar harshness.

"Huh?" Naruto, asked, confused. "I'm not trying to do anything."

"So, what? I'm just supposed to believe that nonsense story?" Iruka gave a disappointed shake of the head. "What's this really about? Did you think you could bluff your way through the exam? That if you got someone to henge as you I'd actually fall for it and let you pass? I thought you were better than that, Naruto."

"That's not-"

"Be quiet," Iruka snapped before turning on the second Naruto. "As for you, I don't know why you thought it was a good idea to do this, but you should know that sloppy henge isn't going to protect you," the clone began to protest, but Iruka's attention was already back on the real Naruto. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't fail you right now."

"What?" Naruto's eyes went wide. "But I wasn't trying cheat, I swear! I can prove it!"

"Just stop already," Iruka gave a tired sigh.

"No no, look," Naruto pleaded. "I'll make another one!" He quickly formed the seal and focused his chakra. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" he cried, praying that he actually was able to make more than one.

Thankfully, he found that he could, and a third Naruto popped into being right in front of him.

"See, see, see!" Naruto pointed at the second clone. "I told you I wasn't lying!"

Incredulous, Iruka bent down and reached out at the newly formed clone. His disbelief turned to outright shock as his fingers pressed against the solid bunshin's arm. It couldn't be true. There was just no way that an academy student should have been able to perform the Kage Bunshin. Yes, some exceptional students were able to perform jutsu that would normally be above their skill level. Legendary geniuses like Hatake Kakashi were by Naruto's age regularly performing jutsu that even grown adults struggled with. But in the case of this particular jutsu, talent was irrelevant. The enormous demands it placed on one's chakra supply were far beyond what any twelve-year-old boy should be capable of. Naruto was simply too young, his chakra too undeveloped for him to be able to use this sort of jutsu. Creating just one clone should have hospitalized him, but now here was a second one staring him in the face.

"Naruto?" Iruka's concern poured into his voice as his head turned to the real Naruto. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Eh?" Naruto tilted his head at the question. "Uh, yeah I guess."

"Are you sure?" Iruka pressed. "You don't feel dizzy or sick or anything like that?"

"No," Naruto answered slowly. "Well actually I feel pretty hungry, but that's 'cause I didn't have time for breakfast."

_Because he didn't have time for breakfast_. So Naruto had not only performed a jutsu that all reason said should have killed him, but just to push it into that extra level of absurdity, he'd done so on an empty stomach. It was like the boy was deliberately screwing with him, and knowing him that was a distinct possibility. Still, Iruka supposed, if there was anyone among his students capable of pulling this off, it would be Naruto. He was, after all, the only one with the deep well of the Kyūbi's chakra to draw on. Though the fact that the seal was apparently letting some of the demon's chakra though was worrying enough on its own, and in any case it didn't answer the question of where Naruto had learned to use such an advanced jutsu in the first place.

A rising tide of whispering and murmuring from his increasingly restless students brought him back to reality. Iruka stood and raised a hand to the class.

"Settle down, everyone," he called out. "Everyone just keep quiet and wait here for a few minutes. Naruto, come with me please," Iruka said as he started down to the front of the class. Naruto followed him without questioning or protest. Iruka had been just about to fail him a minute ago, so pressing his luck again seemed like a bad idea, even for him.

Iruka led him along with his two clones past the curious eyes of his fellow pupils, and into the side room that was to be used for the exam. As Iruka slid open the door, Mizuki glanced up from at them from his seat at the large desk against the wall. The silver-haired chūnin opened his mouth the greet him, but it died in his throat at the sight of the three Narutos that came in behind his colleague.

"Iruka?" Mizuki asked instead. "What's going on?"

"That's for Naruto to say," Iruka answered as he slid the door shut. He looked down at his most troublesome student and crossed his arms. "Alright, now tell us. Where exactly did you learn to use the Kage Bunshin?"

"What?" Mizuki's eyes went wide.

"Look for yourself," Iruka gestured at the shadows on the ground. Sure enough, each clone had its own shadow stretching out behind it.

"So?" Iruka asked again. "Can you explain for us?"

"I already told you, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said. "It was the dream."

Iruka wasn't buying it. "You're not going to stand there and tell me that you learned a B-rank jutsu in your sleep. Tell me the truth," he ordered.

"But that is the truth!" Naruto cried. Iruka gave a frustrated sigh.

"Look," he tried a gentler tone. "You're not in trouble, I just want to know how you managed to learn such an advanced jutsu so quickly. Did someone teach you it, or did you read about it somewhere or what?"

"Well in the dream there was a scroll..." Naruto started.

Iruka pinched the bridge of his scarred nose. "Why don't you want to tell me what actually happened?"

"I am," Naruto insisted. His eyes met Iruka's. "I'm telling you the truth, I swear."

Iruka was a trained shinobi. Part of that training involved telling when people were lying. Iruka couldn't rightly claim that he was some incredible genius at it, but he was no slouch either, and teaching Naruto for six years had given the chūnin plenty of time to familiarize himself with his tells. The way he shifted his eyes, the scratching at his head, he broadcast his dishonesty so egregiously, even for an academy student. So far, the little idiot hadn't gotten a single lie past him. Yet as their eyes met, Iruka could find no trace of one in Naruto. He believed what he said, and that was a problem.

"Okay," Iruka said. "Then why don't you tell me exactly what happened in this dream?"

"Sure thing, Iruka-sensei," Naruto replied cheerfully. "I was running thought this forest, and it was dark out-"

"Only it wasn't really you, 'cause your body wasn't doing what you told it," the fully dressed clone cut in.

"And you were carrying this huge scroll on your back," the pajama clad bunshin added. Naruto whipped his head to scowl at the disobedient clones.

"Hey hey hey! What did I tell you? I'm the one who's telling the story, okay? Stop interrupting me!" He shot them both a glare to drive the point home before turning back to his sensei.

"So, uh, anyway," Naruto continued as if nothing had happened. His clones both stuck their tongues out at him behind his back. "I had this scroll, and when I stopped I opened it and there was the jutsu on it and I did it and that's when I woke up," he finished in one breath.

"'Your body wasn't doing what you told it?'" concern crept back into Iruka's voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"Um," Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I couldn't control myself. I tried to make my body stop, but it just kept going on its own. It was really weird, like I was awake but," he grasped about for the right word. "Trapped, I guess."

"I see," Iruka stated. This was a problem, alright. It didn't take a great thinker to realize that what Naruto was describing hadn't been a dream at all. Iruka had only questioned him to find out who had been careless enough to allow such a dangerous technique to fall into the hands of an academy student. This, however, was quite a bit more serious than some irresponsible shinobi.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei?" Iruka blinked.

"What is it Naruto?"

"Well, uh," Naruto raised a hand to his spiky blond hair. "Does this mean that I passed?"

"Do you pass?" Iruka repeated the question with raised eyebrows.

"Like, because I can do this jutsu," Naruto elaborated. "The test was for us to do the bunshin jutsu, right? So if I can do this then doesn't that mean I pass?"

It was true that for Naruto to use a jutsu normally reserved for jōnin was incredibly impressive. Even Iruka's frankly optimistic expectations of the boy had been blown out of the water today. By all rights he'd more than earned his headband, but given the potential crisis that had come along with that jutsu, this just wasn't the time for it.

Iruka knelt and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We'll worry about that later, but right now there's something we need to do, understand?"

"What d'you mean? I did the clone jutsu," Naruto's voice quavered. "So I should pass, right?"

"Listen," Iruka made to reassure his student. After failing the poor kid twice now, along with dozens of other students over the years, he should have been used to this. "I'm not saying you didn't pass," Naruto's face immediately brightened. "But we've got something more important to deal with."

"Like what?" Naruto queried.

"That dream you had. Don't you think there was something strange about it?"

"Kinda, yeah" Naruto admitted.

"Right," the chūnin nodded. "So, think about it. If you had a strange dream where you ran out into a forest against your will, carrying a scroll that had jutsu that you didn't know about written on it, what do you think that might mean?" Naruto frowned as the gears in his head turned.

"That it wasn't really a dream," he connected the dots. "That maybe it really did happen."

The suspicion had been at the back of his mind, little more a vague feeling that something hadn't been right about that dream. Now, with Iruka spelling it out for him, the true gravity of his situation finally dawned on him.

"Then that means I actually- Someone was really- Oh shit," panic flooded into the boy's voice as he began to pace around in small circle. "Oh shit."

"Naruto," Iruka said sharply. Naruto halted in his tracks. "I need you to stay calm. Panicking isn't going to help anybody. We're going to take care of this, okay?"

"Okay," he breathed. "So what're we gonna do?"

"We're going to go to the Hokage," Iruka replied. Something as serious as this demanded no less than the attention of the highest authority in the village. "He'll know what to do, don't worry."

Naruto gave a quick nod. "Alright."

"Mizuki," Iruka glanced over at his fellow teacher. "Can you take care of the exam for me while I'm gone?"

"Sure," Mizuki shrugged.

"Thanks," Iruka gave a small smile of gratitude and turned back to Naruto. "Alright, we'd better get going."

"Right," Naruto agreed. "Okay you two," he called to his two bunshin. "You heard him, get moving."

"Ah, Naruto," Iruka interrupted. "You can just dispel them, you know."

"But wont they die?" Naruto questioned.

Iruka quirked an eyebrow. How could he still be so ignorant about something as basic as the nature of clone jutsu? Hadn't anything gotten through to him in the last half decade? "They can't die. They're not actually alive."

"Hey!" one of the clones took offense at the perceived insult.

"They're a part of you, of your chakra, the same way that regular bunshin are," he continued, ignoring the clone's protest.

"You sure?" Naruto remained skeptical.

"Yes I'm sure," impatience edged Iruka's voice. "Now hurry up and get rid of them. We don't have time for this."

"If you say so, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said dubiously. He brought his hands up in a basic ram seal and called the bunshins' chakra back to himself. They both vanished with two small pops, leaving only a few curling wisps of smoke behind.

Freed of his trailing bunshin, Naruto followed his sensei back out into the class room. Iruka strode out to the front of the room to address his students.

"Listen up, everyone," he called out. "Something's come up and unfortunately I can't be here to administer the genin exam. Mizuki-sensei will take over for me while I'm gone. I want you all to behave yourselves and take this test seriously, understand?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei," came dull monotone reply.

"Good," Iruka said, satisfied. "I'm sorry I wont be here to see you become genin, but I know you'll all make proud." With that, he waved Naruto over and started for the door.

Exiting the classroom with Naruto in tow, Iruka made down the halls of the academy for the administrative wing. When he'd gotten up this morning, his biggest concern for the day was the likelihood that Naruto would yet again fail the exam. The unavoidable truth was that Naruto was getting too old for the academy. His first two failed attempts at making genin hadn't been any cause for concern. Exceptional, or merely confident students were allowed to take the genin exam early, and so of course Naruto had done so without a second thought. It hadn't worked out, but there was no harm in trying. After six years in the academy, however, Naruto had reached the end of the line. Everyone in his class was expected to pass, and those that didn't would have to find a different calling.

Yet he had just proven that he was more than qualified. It would have been a relief, if only the circumstances surrounding his newfound ability hadn't been so dire. Someone had used Naruto, taken control of the boy while he slept in order to do their bidding. Given exactly what the boy had described in his dream, it was likely that some critical piece of intelligence had been stolen, and evidently no one had found out about it until just now. Added to all that was the chilling possibility that Naruto was now compromised. Whatever jutsu had been used on him might still be controlling him in some subtle way, or perhaps it was laying dormant, waiting for some trigger to once again rob him of his body.

As they turned a corner, the door of the Hokage's office came into view. Thick and heavy, it contrasted sharply with the thin sliding doors used everywhere else in the building. Slouched beside the entrance at a cramped chair, the door guard glanced up from his book.

"Need something?"

"Uh, well I know it's sudden but I need to see the Hokage," Iruka said. He leaned over and in a lower voice added, "It's about Naruto."

"That so," the tokubetsu jōnin glanced over at Iruka's charge. Usually it was next to impossible to see the Hokage on such short notice. His time was stretched thin as it was without unannounced interruptions, but over the years the phrase "It's about Naruto" had become something of a code to bypass the normal rules. "Well, I suppose Hokage-sama isn't too busy right now. Go ahead."

Iruka said a word of thanks and headed in.

He opened the door to find the old Kage sitting ready with his hands clasped on his desk. Sarutobi gazed at the two of them with clear, alert eyes belonging to a much younger man.

"Iruka," he greeted. The chūnin bowed.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka answered as he rose. "I apologize for disturbing you, but something's come up."

"It's not a problem," the Hokage waved him off. "I had an inkling that you two might show up," his gaze flicked to Naruto.

"You did?" Iruka's eyebrows went up. Sarutobi gave a short nod.

"Ah, Naruto, could you wait outside?" he directed his attention to the blond student. "I'd like to speak with Iruka in private."

"Eh!? No way!" Naruto objected. "I wanna hear too!"

"Naruto," Iruka admonished. "Hokage-sama just told you to do something. You want to be a shinobi, right? Then that means listening to instructions."

"But that's not fair," Naruto pouted. "This is about me, ain't it? Why do I have to stand outside while you guys say stuff about me behind my back?"

"It will only be for a minute," the Hokage reasoned. "I just want to hear was Iruka has to say first."

Naruto gave Sarutobi a sour look, but only grumbled to himself as he turned and opened the door. Iruka frowned at the sight of the usually insubordinate Naruto obediently marching out. The brat never followed his orders with so little fuss.

"So," Sarutobi said once the door slammed shut. "I suppose this has something to do with the Kage Bunshin Naruto summoned in his sleep this morning?"

Ah, so that was the true reason for having him out of the room. The dishonesty didn't sit right with Iruka, but really it was for the best that Naruto didn't know about the ANBU team tasked with watching over him.

"Yes," Iruka nodded. "But there's more to it."

"I'd assumed so," the Hokage reached for his pipe. There never seemed to be any good news concerning Naruto. Whether it was some prank he'd pulled, or a report on his failing grades, or even the repeated complaints from so-called concerned citizens about the "demon child" running loose in the village, hearing the name of Minato's son almost always heralded a headache. "What is it, then?" he asked wearily.

"Well," Iruka began. "When Naruto came to the class with a Kage Bunshin I was, of course, suspicious. So I questioned him about it, and he told me that he learned the jutsu in a dream."

"And you believe that he's being honest?"

"He seemed to be, anyway," Iruka answered. "He's not a good liar, I'm sure you know, but he didn't look dishonest."

Sarutobi tapped out a measure of tobacco from a small tin into his pipe. A small breath of flame was all he needed to have it lit and clouding the air with its pleasant smoke.

"A dream that teaches jutsu..." the Hokage took a long draw of the pipe as a well-worn crease formed between his brows. "I wish I had something like that when I was his age."

"Uh, the thing is, Hokage-sama," Iruka ignored the tickling in his throat from the smoke. "He told me what his dream was, and I don't think he was even asleep last night."

"You just said that he was telling the truth," the Hokage gave a small frown.

"I believe that he thinks he's telling the truth," Iruka explained. "As he told it, he dreamed of carrying a large scroll into a forest," the chūnin took a breath. "And that he wasn't in control of his body while he was doing this."

Sarutobi took another draw on his pipe, longer than the last. He let it out slowly in a sigh and focused his gaze to meet Iruka's.

"What do you suppose this means?" he asked, despite already knowing what the instructor was going to say.

"It means that someone used Naruto," Iruka's voice burned with barely contained fury. Now that he spoke it out loud, the chūnin couldn't help but seethe at the thought. "They used him to steal something important to Konoha."

This did not garner the expected reaction from the Hokage. Rather than mirror Iruka's outrage or show surprise, he merely took another draw on his pipe.

"The ANBU team didn't report anything out of the ordinary, except of course for the Kage Bunshin," he rubbed his chin. "They certainly didn't say anything about him going into any forest."

"They might've been fooled," Iruka said quickly. "Someone could've been standing in for him during the night."

"It's possible," Sarutobi agreed. "But these are ANBU we're talking about, Iruka. There aren't many people who could get away with something like that."

"But they _do_ exist, Hokage-sama, and if someone like that has infiltrated the village then that just makes things more serious."

The Hokage sighed again and rubbed his temple. There was the headache, right on time. "You may be right, but before we do anything, I'd like to hear the story directly from Naruto. Go ahead and let him in."

The Hokage's tone didn't seem appropriately urgent to Iruka, but it wasn't his place to say anything about it. So, with nothing more than a "Yes, Hokage-sama," he turned and opened the door.

Of course, Naruto had been leaning with his ear pressed against the door in a futile effort to hear their voices through the thick wood, and so when it swung open he tumbled face first into the room.

"Oww!" he groaned clutching his nose. "What'd you do that for? I coulda broken it!"

"Just get up," his sensei growled irritably and pulled his student to his feet by the collar.

"Naruto," Sarutobi began as Iruka shut door. "I understand that you had an unusual dream last night. Could you describe it for me?"

"Okay," Naruto said. "I was running through this forest, with this huge scroll on my back-"

"And you couldn't control yourself, correct?" Sarutobi cut in.

"Yeah, it was really messed up. Like, I wanted to make myself stop, but I just couldn't. I couldn't even move my eyes," Naruto shuddered at the memory.

"What happened next?" Sarutobi prodded. "You looked into the scroll, yes?"

"Yeah, and that's where I learned the jutsu."

"And it was Kage Bunshin?" the Hokage questioned.

"Right," Naruto agreed, but after a moment's reflection corrected himself. "Actually, it wasn't exactly Kage Bunshin. That's what I used in the dream, but on the scroll it was called Tajū Kage Bunshin."

"Tajū.." Sarutobi repeated, a rare look of shock crossing his features. A large scroll with a kinjutsu like Tajū Kage Bunshin written on it could only describe one thing: the Scroll of Seals. That scroll contained within it some of the most powerful and dangerous techniques ever created. Its theft would be nothing less than an utter catastrophe for Konoha. "Both of you, listen carefully. You two are to go back to your classroom and stay there. Naruto, you are not to leave this building until you are given permission, do you understand?"

"But-"

"_Do you understand_?" the fierceness in the Old Man's eyes struck Naruto like a whip. The boy's mouth snapped shut and he nodded meekly.

"Iruka, stay with Naruto and keep watch over him. If he tries to leave, stop him."

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

Satisfied, the Hokage dismissed them. He waited until the door shut behind Iruka, and then gave a heaving sigh as soon as it was. The aged shinobi rubbed his temples in an effort to soothe the pounding in his skull. When Naruto's ANBU guard had reported that the boy had used a jōnin's technique, and had done so in his sleep, Sarutobi had known that the new day was going to be a troubling one. Although, if he'd known exactly how troubling, he might've been tempted to head back to the Tower and spend the rest of the day napping. But he was here now, in the Hokage's office, wearing the Hokage's hat as he'd done for too many years, and he wasn't about to leave when his village needed him.

Sarutobi stood, his worn joints crackling as he did, and made for the door.

* * *

AN: So if there was anyone out there wondering where this went, the long and short of it is that my computer died and took all my drafts with it. Backing up your files? What's that? I considered abandoning this, but ultimately I decided to rewrite and make it, you know, good this time. Or at least better. Maybe. I hope.

Anyway, read, review, like, follow, print it out and frame it on your wall. Whatever you feel is best.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thunk_,_ thunk, thunk, _the sound of Naruto's foot colliding with the bottom of his desk filled the empty classroom. The last of the genin hopefuls had already taken their tests, leaving Iruka and him to wait for word from the Hokage. With the last day of the school year finished, there wasn't much left to occupy either of them while they waited, and the tension of their situation eventually began to erode. Iruka shuffled papers at his desk in a pointless attempt to look busy, but Naruto made no effort to hide his boredom.

_Thunk thunk thunk_

What was taking the Old Man? They'd been sitting here for hours! How long did it take to go check on some stupid scroll? Naruto tilted his head back and scowled at the ceiling. This was truly inexcusable, leaving him locked up like this, and in a _classroom _of all places. That old geezer might as well have put him in chains and thrown him in a dungeon. At least there weren't any ninjutsu tests in prison, and at least they'd feed him. As if it was listening in on his thoughts, Naruto's stomach growled, which did little to improve his mood. He'd already missed breakfast, and lunch, and the way things were going he'd be lucky to get anything in him before sundown.

As soon as he was out of here, he told himself, he was going straight to Ichiraku to make up for lost time. A dopey grin broke his frown as his head began to fill with thoughts of all the delicious ramen that was waiting for him. Miso was the best, as any right thinking person would agree, though he wouldn't mind some tonkotsu either, or maybe a bowl of shio, or, hell, who was he kidding. One of everything sounded good right now. His mind went fuzzy with the thought of the feast waiting for him, all the while his foot kept on banging against his desk.

_Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk-_

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted, at his wit's end. "Would you knock it off already?"'

Naruto mumbled a grudging apology and let his leg drop limply back to the floor. With his blissful reverie interrupted, however, there was nothing to stop his impatience from creeping back into his mind. Each second seemed to drag on, as if time itself was spiting him, and his already low tolerance for boredom wore ever thinner. It wasn't long before he was out of his seat and pacing up and down the classroom with an increasingly sour look marring his normally sunny features. Finally, he could stand it no longer, and tugged at his hair as he gave a cry of frustration.

"What the hell is taking so long?" he complained, almost loud enough to be shouting.

"I don't know, Naruto," Iruka replied irritably. "Just try to be patient."

"But we've been here forever!" Naruto cried. "This isn't fair. I didn't do anything, so how come I'm in trouble?"

"You're not in trouble," Iruka said with an exasperated sigh. "No one blames you for whatever happened last night." If they did, he added to himself, Naruto would probably be in a small dark room right now with little hope of ever seeing the sun again.

"Then why can't I leave?" The starving boy put a hand to his aching stomach. "I just wanna go get something to eat. I'll come right back, I promise. _Please _can I-?"

"Absolutely not," Iruka shook his head. "Do you understand how serious this is? We have no idea what was done to you last night. Right now I can't even be sure that you're still you, or that you're not going kill anybody."

"W-What?" Naruto stammered, stung by his teacher's words. "There's no way I'd ever kill someone!"

"You say that now, but what happens if someone takes control of you again? They've already used you as their tool, why not as a weapon?"

Naruto chewed at his lower lip, at a loss. There was a long moment of quiet between the two of them as he considered Iruka's words, his face growing progressively darker as he did so.

"Iruka-sensei," he finally said, his voice somber. "If this guy or whoever did try to use me to hurt someone, you'd stop me right?"

"Yes," Iruka answered slowly. The unusually sober look on his student's face told him exactly where this was going.

"And if you couldn't stop me then you'd have to-?"

"Don't think about things like that," Iruka cut off the morbid question before it could be fully voiced. "Hokage-sama is one of the greatest shinobi the world has ever seen, he wont let anything happen to you, and neither will I."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

At last, the door slid open, and the same guard from before poked his head in, the same detached, unconcerned expression on his face as before.

"Hokage-sama will see you now," he stated flatly, and was already heading back down the hall before either of them could respond.

000

Naruto and Iruka stood before the Hokage's desk, face to face with the elderly Kage. Off to their left stood a blond jōnin with his arms crossed and his face set in that expressionless mask that all shinobi of his rank seemed to wear while on duty.

"So," the Hokage began. "Naruto, do you know what this is?" He reached to the side of his chair and with some effort pulled up a large scroll onto his desk.

"Um, yeah," Naruto nodded. "That's the scroll from my dream."

"Are you sure?'" Sarutobi pressed.

"'Course I'm sure," Naruto answered. "I'd recognize that thing anywhere."

"I see," the Kage stated. "Do you know where we found this?" Naruto shrugged. "It was sealed in its case, exactly as it was when I put it there."

Iruka opened his mouth to speak, but the Hokage raised his hand.

"Before you ask, no it's not a duplicate. And it hasn't been tampered with or taken temporarily and then returned either. Indeed, if the dust collecting on top of the case was any indication, no one has laid hands on it in months."

"But how can that be possible, Hokage-sama?" Iruka protested. "Naruto just said that he recognizes the scroll from last night."

"Yes, and that's what makes this such a puzzle," Sarutobi's voice carried a certain weariness that had grown more and more familiar over the last decade or so. "You see, I've tested this scroll again and again only to find that it is be the genuine article. I checked the room it was stored in and found no evidence of an intruder. I questioned the guards that were on duty last night at the Tower, and they reported nothing out of the ordinary. I checked with jōnin sentinels stationed throughout the village only to hear the same. The gate guards saw nothing, the barrier team reported no intruder, according to every guard and seal this village has placed in its defense absolutely nothing happened last night."

"Something must have though," Iruka was resolute. "I'm sorry for contradicting you, Hokage-sama, but for god's sake he showed up in my class with a Kage bunshin. Academy students don't just learn A-rank jutsu out of nowhere like that."

"True," Sarutobi gave a small nod. "But consider what this would mean. For someone to have infiltrated a village occupied by some of the best ninja in the known world, steal one of their most well guarded treasures, and then cover their tracks so thoroughly that no one can prove that any theft actually occurred-" he shook his head. "It beggars belief."

"I understand that Hokage-sama, but what other explanation is there?"

"Well, it seems we have two possibilities, neither of them very plausible, which of course suggests that we're missing something. To that end I have requested the aid of Yamanaka Inoichi here," he gestured to the jōnin to his right who gave a nod of assent and stepped forward.

"Thank you Hokage-sama," he gave the Kage a brief, formal bow before turning to Naruto. "Since we've exhausted all other avenues of investigation, Hokage-sama believes that it would be best to look inside Naruto's mind. After all, this dream of his is the only thing we have to go on, and so having an expert in this sort of thing examine it seems like the right course of action."

"Hold on," Iruka protested, instinctively putting an arm in front of his student. "You're talking about using an interrogation jutsu on a child."

Inoichi's expression remained cool and flat. "It wont hurt him, if that's what you're implying. And I can say from personal experience that every child of the Yamanaka clan has been subjected to this jutsu at one point or another. I had it done to me before I could even properly control my chakra, and I was never any worse for wear."

"But still-" Iruka started warily.

"It's all right, Iruka," Sarutobi reassured him. "I would never have consented to this if I didn't know that it was safe."

With his two superiors pressuring him, Iruka relented and stood aside. Inoichi approached Naruto, who stared up at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Wait, you're gonna look inside my mind?" he asked nervously. "Like with all my thoughts and memories?"

"That's right," the Yamanaka confirmed.

"But that stuff's private!" Naruto objected. "What if I don't want you looking in my brain, huh?"

Inoichi rolled his eyes. "I assure you, there's nothing in a twelve year old academy student's mind that is of any interest to me. Now, hold still." And with that he reached forward and laid his hand on top of Naruto's head.

The boy stiffened slightly as his eyes went blank, and his arms dropped limply to his sides. Inoichi closed his eyes in concentration as he perused the shorter blond's cluttered mind. Iruka and Sarutobi looked on, concern written on the former's face, and a mild curiosity on the latter's. Nearly a full minute had passed before the jōnin finally released Naruto, a small frown forming on his face as his eyes flicked open. Naruto stumbled back and violently shook his head, as if trying to fight off the effects of a sedative.

"Well, Inoichi?" the Hokage raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Hmm," Inoichi pursed his lips in thought. "The dream is certainly there, but besides that there's nothing really out of the ordinary. What strikes me, though, is just how incredibly clear his memory of that dream is."

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked.

"Well, usually with memories, and especially with memories of dreams, you don't get much more than a scattering of images and sounds. But with him, it was more like I was watching a film of his dream than anything else. He has that entire thing stored in his head down to the tiniest detail. I swear I could even count the leaves on the trees."

Sarutobi scratched his chin in thought. "And yet you say that there was nothing else out of the ordinary?"

"That's right, Hokage-sama," the Yamanaka nodded. "All the rest of his memories are perfectly mundane, and there are no mental blocks or any evidence that anyone has tampered with his mind. As far as I can tell, there is no evidence that anything strange or suspect has happened to him."

"I thought as much," the Hokage said with a defeated sigh. "Well, that's it then. All available roads have lead to a dead end, and we can go no further."

"So what now?" Naruto asked groggily, his hand clutching the side of his head.

"Nothing much, I'm afraid," the old shinobi admitted. "We'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious, of course, but for now there simply isn't anything for us to go on. The facts tell us that there was no intruder, no enemy ninja, and without anything solid to tell us otherwise we must assume that to be the case."

"But the dream-" Iruka began.

"It may be the result of something-" Sarutobi hesitated briefly as his eyes flicked in Naruto's direction, "-internal rather than external."

"Internal?" Naruto repeated, cocking his head. "What, you mean I'm going crazy or something?"

"I honestly have no idea," Sarutobi's response was far too grave for Naruto's liking. "If you have another one of these dreams be sure to tell me, understand?"

Naruto nodded quickly, his face pale.

"Well then," Sarutobi said. "If there's nothing else, then the three of you are dismissed."

It was the first bit of good news Naruto had heard all day. Even with the dark cloud of possible insanity hanging over his head, he couldn't help but be cheered by the prospect of freedom and ramen. He was out of that room like a rocket and nearly halfway down the hall before he heard Iruka call after him.

"Hey, wait!" the chūnin yelled from behind him. Naruto skidded to a halt turned to face his teacher.

"Yeah, Iruka-sensei?" he asked as Iruka caught up to him.

"Listen," the instructor began. "Today was supposed to be about testing you to see if you're ready to graduation from the academy, right?"

"Oh crap." Dread filled the pit of Naruto's empty stomach. He'd almost completely forgotten about the test. Even when they'd returned to class he hadn't thought to ask Iruka about it, and Iruka himself had asked Mizuki to administer the test in his stead while he kept an eye on his student. Class was over now and he hadn't even attempted to pass the test.

"Well look, for today's test I was going to have you perform the bunshin technique," Iruka scratched his cheek. "But seeing as how you can make _Kage _bunshin no problem, I'd say you've more than passed."

"What? Really?" Naruto's eyes went wide. "Then does that mean-?"

"Yes, it does," Iruka said as he produced a folded leaf headband out of his pocket. "God knows how you learned how to make shadow clones, but anyone who can pull off jōnin league jutsu like that is certainly worthy of this."

The newly minted genin's heart filled with uncontainable joy as he took the headband. Quickly, fingers trembling from sheer giddiness, he wrapped the soft blue cloth around his head. He gave his now former sensei a wide, bright grin as he felt the engraved, gleaming plate of steel laying against his forehead. He gave a loud whoop of triumph and thrust his fist into the air.

"I did it!" he shouted, laughing and hoping around in a little celebratory dance. "Keep that hat warm for me, Old Man! 'Cause it'll be on my head before you know it!"

Inside his office, the wizened old Kage heard Naruto's boast, and despite everything, he couldn't help but smile.

000

Bowls of ramen sat empty around Naruto as he tore his way through another helping. He had descended on the ramen stand like a plague of locusts not fifteen minutes ago, and quickly set about inhaling as much broth pork and noodles as he could fit into his mouth. Beside him, Iruka sat, his own bowl momentarily forgotten as he gazed in amazement at Naruto's eating habits. He'd already agreed to pay for the meal, which experience taught him was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Yet seeing as it was a special occasion, he'd thought that one meal surely couldn't be too painful. The chūnin instructor grimaced as Naruto gulped down the remainder of the bowl and then leaned back on his stool, patting his stomach contentedly. Well, he didn't _really_ need a new bed anyway.

Naruto sighed, his stomach finally satisfied. "Man, this stuff get's better every time I come here." Inside, Teuchi grinned at the complement, before sidling over to Iruka.

"So, eh," The chef began, scratching the back of his head. "About the bill..."

"Yeah, I got it," Iruka muttered, reaching for his wallet. At least Teuchi was kind enough to sell his ramen at half rate to Naruto, or else they'd have had to spend the night washing dishes. He looked over at his newly graduated student, sitting there with that dopey smile on his face, and held back a sigh. It wasn't something that he'd given too much thought to before now, but seeing Naruto wearing that headband hammered it home. He'd known this boy since he was just six years old, wearing that scruffy shirt and carrying a head too large for his scrawny body. To see him wearing the mark of a shinobi over those same wide, unguarded eyes and goofy grin was almost too much to bear.

Naruto been a genin for less than an hour, he wasn't yet on a genin team, he hadn't even gotten his registration picture taken, but by wearing that headband, he had taken on a far heavier burden than he could know. By wearing it, he showed that he was no longer a child in the eyes of his village, that he knew how to use ninjutsu, and that he'd been trained to fight. If a war were to break out, Naruto could now be called to defend Konoha, and if he were ever capture by another village, he would no longer be able to shield himself with the protections afforded civilians. Naruto wasn't ready to carry such weight, how could anyone of his age ever be ready? And yet there it was, sitting on his brow.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto turned to him, breaking the chūnin out his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Do you think I'm going crazy?" he asked seriously.

"Well," Iruka scratched his nose. "Personally I don't think so, but I'm not really an expert in this sort of thing. Heck, I barely passed the chūnin exams."

"Chūnin exams?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it," Iruka waved him off. "You wont be taking those for a while. Anyway, look, crazy people don't usually learn how to do jutsu from being crazy, right? So that means this had to have been something that actually happened. How else could you have learned how do Kage bunshin?"

"That makes sense, I guess," Naruto's eyes squinted nearly shut as he mulled it over. "But the Old Man said they couldn't find any proof."

"I know, I can't explain it either," Iruka placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Okay," Naruto said quietly. Then, catching a familiar face out of the corner of his eye, he abruptly turned and waved. "It's Mizuki-sensei! Hey, Mizuki-sensei come get some ramen, Iruka-sensei's paying!" he called, eliciting a noise of protest from the academy instructor.

Mizuki didn't acknowledge Naruto's call, passing by the ramen stand without a glance at either of them. Naruto waved after him for a second longer, but when it became clear that he wasn't about to respond, he gave up with a shrug.

"What's with him?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the teacher's back.

"He doesn't like ramen," Iruka said by way of an explanation, though from the glimpse he caught of his colleague's face he surmised that there was something other than a difference in taste that was occupying the silver haired chūnin.

"What!?" Naruto spun around, a look sheer horror on his face. "Whaddaya mean he doesn't like ramen? How's that even possible? You gonna tell me he don't like air next?"

Iruka gave a one shouldered shrug for a response and picked up some noodles with his chopsticks. To be honest Naruto wasn't wrong in his incredulity at Mizuki's culinary preferences. As he chewed on the steamy, broth soaked noodles, he had to agree that Teuchi's ramen was incredible. He wasn't about to start shouting its virtues from the rooftops, as Naruto did, but he couldn't deny that he spent an awful lot of time on these stools.

"So what happens now that I passed?" Naruto asked out loud, playing with his chopsticks.

Iruka swallowed. "Well, first of all you have to be properly registered as a shinobi and get your ID number and you photo taken- and by the way, don't you dare think of screwing up your photo. That picture will be with you for the rest of your life, so don't show up looking like an idiot, understand?"

"Why would I do something like that?" Naruto asked, the perfect image of innocence.

"Right," Iruka looked at him skeptically. "After that you'll be assigned to a genin squad under a jōnin sensei."

"Wow, really?" Naruto face brightened considerably at that. "Does that me he's gonna take me with on all those badass missions to rescue princesses and assassinate evil ninja and-"

"God no," Iruka stated firmly. "You not nearly ready for that sort of thing and you know it."

"Aw, come on," Naruto whined. "I mean, what good was getting this headband if I'm still stuck here doing nothing?"

"You should feel lucky," Iruka admonished. "A lot of these jōnin didn't have the luxury of growing up during peace. By the time they were your age, they were already out in the field risking their lives every single day."

"I know," Naruto said, starry eyed. "It's so cool. And I'm gonna have one for a teacher!"

Iruka buried his face in his hands. "Why did I ever give you that headband?"

"Because I'm the best ninja who ever lived," Naruto stated without a hint of irony.

"If you say so," Iruka rolled his eyes. The conversation broke for a moment, as Naruto played with the dregs of his last bowl, while Iruka worked on finishing his first.

"So do you know who it's gonna be?" Naruto eventually asked.

"Your sensei? I might have some idea," Iruka said noncommittally. "But I'm certainly not going to tell you."

"Why not?" Naruto pressed. "I mean I'm gonna find out in a couple of days anyway."

"Then you can be patient."

Naruto groaned. "Ugh, can't you turn off the teacher thing for, like, a second?"

"Nope," Iruka stated with a smile.

"Can you at least tell me who the jōnin are?" Naruto gave one final push.

"Naruto..." Iruka's voice took a familiar warning tone.

"I just want to know their names," Naruto bargained. "You don't have to tell me who they're gonna be teaching or anything like that.

Iruka stared into the genin's pleading face.

"Alright, I guess there's no harm in it, but don't let Hokage-sama know I told you anything," the chūnin added sharply. "Hm, let's see… The three that I know about are Sarutobi Asuma, Yūhi Kurenai, and Hatake Kakashi."

"Sarutobi?" Naruto asked. "Isn't that the Old Man's name?"

"That's right," Iruka nodded. "In fact, Asuma is his son. Before now he was one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja protecting the daimyō. He only returned to the village a few years ago, and this will be his first time taking on a genin team."

"Wow, this guy sounds amazing! Can you put me on his team?" the genin begged.

"Sorry, but no," Iruka shook his head. "His team is somewhat, ah, unique. You see, his clan has had a sort of arrangement with the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara clans. Those clans have been tightly knit since before the founding of Konoha, and to honor that, their heirs always from together in what's called the Ino-Shika-Chō team. And that team is always lead by a Sarutobi, in this case Asuma."

"Oh," Naruto said, disappointment evident on his face. "What about the other two?"

Iruka's hand went to the back of his head. "I don't actually know a whole lot about Yūhi, only that she started out fairly early. From what I hear she was a genin at nine, and wasn't much older than you when she made chūnin. It took her a while to reach jōnin, though. She was only promoted a little while ago, but I can't really say anything about that. Just the fact that she made it at all proves she's way more talented than I could ever hope to be."

"Don't say things like that, Iruka-sensei," Naruto passionately objected. "You could totally become a jōnin if you worked at it."

Iruka chuckled at the resolute expression on the Naruto's face. "That's really nice of you to say, but it's not happening. I've had my fill of action, and the desk suits me just fine, thank you very much."

"Suit yourself, I guess," Naruto said with a shrug. "So what about the third guy?"

"Ah, now if you want to talk about seeing action, then look no further than Hatake Kakashi. He graduated the academy a _five, _the youngest genin in history. Less than a year later he was a chūnin, and by thirteen he was a jōnin."

"No way," was all Naruto could say.

"It gets better," Iruka said. "During the third world war he was part of a team that was personally led by the Yondaime, and soon after that became the only non Uchiha to be able to use the Sharingan. Rumor has it that he's copied over a thousand jutsu with that eye, and today he's the last shinobi in Konoha that can use the dōjutsu. The man is a living legend, almost on par with the Sannin."

"So awesome," Naruto was completely starstruck. "You gotta let me on his team."

"Heh, you should be careful what you wish for," Iruka cautioned. "Kakashi may be one of the greatest shinobi ever produced by Konoha, but he's also..." the chūnin struggled for the proper word. "_E__ccentric._"

"Eccentric?" Naruto repeated.

"I mean he's a genius, no doubt about that, but I don't think he's exactly how you're imagining him."

"Seriously?" Naruto wouldn't hear it. "After what you just told me about him how can he not be, like, the coolest guy ever?"

Iruka rubbed at the scar on his nose. "Things haven't been finalized just yet, so you might get a chance to find out. If you do, well, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Hey, Naruto!" Teuchi called from inside the stand. "I just finished another pot. You gonna have any more?"

"You bet I am!" Naruto shouted back eagerly. Iruka's head dropped to the bar top in utter despair. _Never again,_ he swore to the gods above.

000

The sun had descended beneath the wall of Konoha, and the arteries of the village were finally beginning to clear of that seemingly endless flow of people that filled it during the day. Indeed, the dark, narrow road that Mizuki now walked down contained not another soul. The chipped paint and cracked roof tiles of the meager buildings told him that he was in the bad part of the village. Almost no shinobi lived in the poor district of Konoha, save for Naruto, and himself. But he had no intention of returning to that hovel he called a home tonight, in fact he really had no idea where he was going, and walked the streets in a daze.

It was all over for him, his plans, his dream. Months of scheming, of spying, the hours spent piecing together a workable plan, the long nights spent hoping and praying for this chance to escape the intolerable mediocrity of his life, it had all come to nothing. How long had he spent desperately pouring over the contents of every archive he had access to, just to find one scrap of information about the jutsu contained in that scroll? How many sleepless nights had he spent crouched in trees and bushes, carefully monitoring the patrol of the Hokage's guards? How long had he spent meticulously mapping out the Hokage Tower, completely from scratch as the blueprints were classified, in order to find a viable escape route? And now the Hokage was suspicious, the security at the Tower on alert, and the scroll hidden away someplace he could never hope to find it. In a few brief hours his only chance at ever becoming more than a worthless desk chūnin, at immortality, had been taken away forever.

A boiling rage filled Mizuki's chest, his hands clenching into fists. _That little shit!_ That monster pretending to be human, he'd known the entire time! On the very day his plan was to commence, the demon comes in talking about dreams and scrolls, and suddenly the Hokage has the entire village locked down? That blackhearted monster had been waiting, salivating in anticipation for the day when it could take everything from him in one move. It was sitting up in its home now, laughing at him.

Mizuki grit his teeth, his pace quickening as he stormed down the empty streets of this accursed village. He lashed out at a trashcan placed in front of some dingy old building, kicking it hard enough to make it fold in on itself. Empty ramen cups and other such filth spilled out of the dented metal can.

"Hey, jackass!" a grating, familiar voice called. Naruto poked his blond head through a window on the building's second floor. "That's my trashcan, you jerk! What do you think you're- eh? Mizuki-sensei?"

Mizuki gave no response, coldly glaring up the hated demon. Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly.

"Er, did ya trip or something?" he tried more politely as he realized that he'd just called his former teacher a jackass.

Mizuki maintained his stony silence, his fists clenched hard enough to make the bones creak. It would be so easy to jump up there grab its head and twist until he heard that wonderful pop of the neck breaking. A kunai to the throat and it would die gasping and choking on its own blood. It was all he could manage to keep his killing intent from pouring out him. He glanced around the wretched creature, seeing nothing, but that was how ANBU operated. Hiding in the shadows, poised to strike, just waiting for a signal. One hostile gesture, one sudden movement, anything that revealed his murderous desire, and he would be dead before he could ever lay a finger on the Fox. The demon of course knew this as well, it was there in that smug grin, that teasing look that seemed to say "you can't touch me."

This was the legacy of the Yondaime, his supposed victory over the Kyūbi. The demon who had almost destroyed Konoha was now allowed walk freely through its streets, was given a home, and even had the Hokage's personal soldiers shielding it with their lives.

"Um, could you pick up the trashcan, Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked, awkwardly breaking the silence. "I mean you knocked it down and all."

Mizuki glared up at him a moment longer, and then his face broke into a wide, tight smile. "Sure thing." He set the bin upright, but did nothing for the large dent marring its side. He didn't wait to hear if Naruto would give a word of thanks before turning around and marching back down the street he came from.

A new purpose guided Mizuki as he stalked through the night. All of his despair and loathing collapsed into a single point, like the birth of some hateful star. The demon would die, slowly and painfully. Someday soon the beast would find itself alone, without the Hokage's pets to save it, and then he would have his revenge. It didn't matter what they did to him afterward. No matter how painful their retribution, it could never take away the bliss of watching that demon's eyes go dim. He could already smell the sweet, coppery scent of blood, see it spilling out and making great dark puddles. He just needed one opportunity, one slip up, one moment without anyone to interfere.

Poison would, of course, be the easiest route, but Mizuki rejected it immediately. Simply slipping something into a meal and then waiting for the death from afar wouldn't satisfy the way a blade through the heart would. He needed feel the body go limp in his arms, to stare into glassy, sightless eyes, and know that the demon was truly gone.

Without meaning to, he'd made his way back to his home, a structure that was somehow in worse condition than Naruto's. He tore open the front door to the apartment building, thoughts of vengeance and murder swirling in his head. By the time he got to his room, the beginnings of a plan had already taken root. He stomped in to his pitiful apartment, slamming the door behind him, and tore the headband from his head.

No sleep would come to him tonight, he would spend it plotting his final stab at greatness. Once all was said and done, he would be remembered as the one who had _truly _slain the Kyūbi.

* * *

Wow, five and a half thousand words in just a single year! Outstanding job, me.


	3. Chapter 3

The Nanadaime Hokage looked out at Konohagakure from the highest room of the Hokage Tower, _his __tower_, grinning in triumph. Today was the culmination of a lifetime of work, the achievement of what so many had said was impossible. Today was the fulfillment of his greatest dream. His inauguration just hours before was still running in his mind. All the assembled jōnin hat stood and swore their allegiance to him, and he in turn had sworn his to the village. His predecessor and former sensei, Kakashi, had personally placed the Kage hat on his head, a rare genuine smile showing through his mask. And then to top it all off, he had been presented with his new robes, custom made just for him. They were, to his mind, way more cool than anything the earlier Hokage had ever worn.

The robe, more of a cape really, fluttered in the wind around his shoulders, which must have made him look like the most awesome person who ever lived. If only Sasuke wasn't off wandering the world, and could see him right now. Seeing that bastard try to pretend that he wasn't just _seething _with envy would have made today even more perfect than it already was.

"Naruto," a gentle, beautiful voice called behind him. He turned away from the incredible view of Konoha, to a sight even lovelier to his eyes, that of his wife, Hyūga Hinata. Without another word, they fell into each other's arms and shared a long, passionate kiss.

"The robes look nice on you," she said after the kiss broke, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "They remind me of your father's."

"That's exactly what I was going for," the new Hokage said staring into her warm, pale eyes. "But between you and me, I think I wear it better than he did."

She giggled at that, and then pulled him closer into another kiss. Not to be outdone, Naruto quickly broke it off and leaned over her, trailing kisses up her collarbone and neck until he was nibbling at her ear. She gasped slightly, and with that to encourage him Naruto pressed against her, his hand sliding lower down her back.

"_Naruto,_" Hinata cried.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and a blond haired boy with whiskers and blue eyes stomped into the room. They quickly split apart as their son crossed his arms and scowled at them.

"Ugh," the boy said. "Can't you two stop doing that gross stuff all the time?"

Naruto burst out laughing at the boy's disapproval, while the blush on Hinata's cheek's deepened and spread.

"Boruto, go look after your sister," Hinata said.

"Ah, she's just sleepin' in her crib," the boy said. "'Sides, I wanna look around the new house some more. This place is huge!" He threw his hands into the air for emphasis.

"Just don't go into the scroll archive," Naruto warned sternly. "I don't want you messing with anything important."

"Yeah, sure," Boruto waved off his father dismissively before bolting back out of the room.

"Little brat," Naruto grumbled.

"You shouldn't speak that way about your son, Naruto," Hinata admonished.

"Oh I know what he's like," Naruto countered. "I was exactly the same once. You remember, right?"

"Well..." Even with her rose tinted view of her beloved, she couldn't deny it. "But still, he's not so bad, he just needs-" From downstairs there suddenly came a loud bang, and what sounded an awful lot like a collection of rare scrolls tumbling to the floor. Naruto swore and quickly made for the door, but Hinata's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"I'll take care of it, dear," she said soothingly. "You just enjoy your day." And with a peck on the cheek, she was out the door after her firstborn.

Naruto grinned at the door, before his gaze wandered back to the window. Now, instead of gazing down at the village, he looked up at the Hokage monument, carved into the great mountain which overlooked the village, where his visage was already being carved into the stone next to his predecessors. His eyes drifted from his own incomplete face, past Kakashi and Tsunade and landed on that of Namikaze Minato. The smile on his face turned wistful as he gazed into the great stone eyes of his father.

"Dad," he said quietly. "Hope you're proud."

000

Naruto awoke that morning hugging his pillow, an odd feeling of contentment spreading in his chest. The lazy smile on his face didn't last long, however, for as soon as his mind properly oriented itself, he was left sitting up in his bed and scratching his head in bewilderment. That had been a weird one. Not anything like the nightmare of before, but certainly strange. The part about him being the Hokage had been nice, but why had Hinata been there, and why had he been _kissing _Hinata? Two red spots appeared on his cheeks, right behind the whisker marks. He'd hardly said two words to Hinata so why would he ever do something like that?

And the Hinata in his dream wasn't at all like the Hinata he knew in reality. That Hinata was just some odd shy girl, not anything like that tall, voluptuous, _beautiful_\- He shook his head wildly, desperately trying to rid himself of those incredibly vivid memories. God, he asked himself, how could he ever face her again after this? What could have inspired such thoughts? Was he just a pervert, no better than all those people he'd pranked with his Sexy Jutsu? The possibility was far too embarrassing to contemplate, and so he resolved to push it out of his mind.

Something else nagged at him however, and it wasn't until he was eating his breakfast and happened to glance out his window that it clicked.

"Dad?" he said out loud to himself. His father, the Yondaime Hokage? Sure, they might have both had blond hair and blue eyes, but that had to be merely wishful thinking, right? They didn't even have the same family name, and on that note, he had no family. Certainly no one by the name of Uzumaki had ever come looking for him, and if he was related to one of the Hokage it seemed that someone would have said something to him about it by now. Still, besides that, and all the weirdness about him being married to Hinata and having a freaking son together, that hadn't been too terrible a dream. He brought another spoonful of overly sweet cereal to his mouth and slurped it up. At least it hadn't been a repeat of last time, although to be fair, he had learned a pretty great jutsu from that dream, which was a relief in itself.

He gulped down the last of the milk, and wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he rose from his chair. He didn't have all day to spend thinking about weird dreams, for today he would be registered as a shinobi of Konoha. Then, tomorrow, he'd be placed on a real ninja squad. He did his best to focus on that wonderful thought as he dressed himself and headed out into the bright day.

As he started down the street to the Hokage tower, however, he couldn't help but be drawn to the great stone monument to the Hokage. It was impossible not to notice that imposing figure almost anywhere in the village, and with nothing but the modest structures of his neighborhood around it was completely unobstructed. Of course, the face of that woman who was apparently the Godaime wasn't up there, and neither was that weird looking masked man with the silver hair. But the Yondaime certainly was, right next to the Old Man like it had been his entire life. He stopped in his tracks, gazing up at that enormous carved face as if expecting it answer his unspoken question. The whistling of the wind through the cramped streets was only response, as the Yondaime's likeness stared out vacantly over Konoha like it had always done.

"Get out of the way, kid," a voice growled behind him. A man wearing an expression that looked like someone was holding rotting garbage under his nose forcibly brushed past the boy and, without another glance, continued on his way. Naruto stumbled, and nearly fell flat on his face before regaining his balance. He glared at the impolite old bastard's back.

"Hey!" the indignant genin shouted after him. "You can't treat me like that! I'm a shinobi of Konoha!"

He jerked thumb at the still new headband wrapped around his forehead. The dick didn't even have the decency to look back at him, and simply gave him the finger as he kept on walking.

Naruto fumed at the insult, but left it at that. Experience told him that directly confronting people like this usually just ended with him in the Hokage's office giving a forced apology to the jerk. Besides, if he really was a shinobi with a headband and everything, then getting into fights with civilians was surely beneath him.

Oh, but he wouldn't forget this, not in a million years. That man was now Marked. The first chance he got, he'd make sure that rude bastard would get what was coming to him. One day, when his home reeked of spoiled eggs and frogs swarmed his bedroom, he would truly regret having incurred the wrath of Uzumaki Naruto. The genin smirked to himself, images of itching powder and buckets of paint occupying his mind as he made his way to the center of the village.

Coming in from the outskirts of Konoha, it was impossible not to notice the gradual improvement in the quality of the buildings, and the broadening of the streets. Living near the wall surrounding the village, however sturdy that wall might have been, was nevertheless considered far too close to the outside to be safe. As a result, everyone in the village scrambled to live as far away from it as possible, with the richest and most powerful naturally coming out on top. It was those who could afford to live near the mountain, which served as a natural wall but reached far higher and was much sturdier, that were considered the cream of Konoha.

Already, in the merchant district, one could see a prosperity which never seemed to reach the fringe of the village. Bright, colorful signs stood outside shops, advertising a great variety of wares within. Scents of delicious, generous meals filled the air. The villagers here wore finer clothes, and had the ruddy look of a people who had never faced hardship. Through the broad avenue, they all bustled past Naruto, never saying anything to him, never glancing in his direction. Yet the hard faces and quickened pace of anyone who got near sent an unmistakeable message. Naruto didn't let it phase him. He had been submerged in this hostile vibe for so long by now that it simply washed over him.

It wasn't until he spied the familiar beige jacket and dark hair of the Hyūga heiress that any discomfort over took him. Hinata was making her way down the street, headed directly for him. Naruto cursed his luck. Of all people, why did it have to be her? Already he could feel his cheeks begin to burn as images of that dream began to surface. By now she was certainly close enough to have noticed him, and of course she was looking right at him. Should he simply ignore her? No, she was definitely about to offer a greeting at least, and if he just walked past her he'd look like some stuck up jerk. Maybe turn around? But wouldn't that seem strange? And what if she caught up to him? Oh god, she was almost within speaking distance. He needed to act fast.

She smiled shyly and genuinely, with a look in those milky eyes that was far too similar to the amorous gaze her dream self had given him. "Um, h-hello, Naru-"

"Sorrygotplacestobemaybelater!" Naruto practically shouted at her, and took off like lightening down the street. He sprinted towards the academy like he was being chased by a rabid wolf, leaving the timid Hyūga staring after him, disappointment written on her face.

He didn't stop running until the academy building came into view, not that he thought that Hinata would chase after him, but once he had started running he might as well keep at it. Outside, by the tree in front of the main door, the photographer was disassembling his camera stand.

"Hey!" Naruto called breathlessly. "Wait a minute, I still need my picture taken!"

The photographer, a lanky man who had the air of someone without much passion for his profession, gave him a grouchy look. "You're late."

"Yeah sorry," Naruto said quickly. "But I'm here now, so come on!" He jogged over to the fence the camera had been facing. The cameraman stared a him for a second, before giving a heavy sigh.

"Fine," he said, reattaching a leg to the camera stand. He then carefully placed the large, somewhat outdated camera onto the stand and it snapped into place. "Alright," he said, focusing the lens on Naruto's face. "Hold still."

"Wait a sec!" Naruto cried, holding up his hands. The face paint! He'd bought some yesterday after leaving Ichiraku, but with his mind occupied by his dream it had completely slipped his memory. "Can you wait here a minute? I need to go get something."

"Kid, I've got places to be," the photographer said. "You've already held me up long enough."

"But-"

"If you leave, then I'm leaving too. It's now or never," he peered back into the viewfinder. "Now smile."

000

"Well Naruto, I must say this is a fine picture. No funny faces or masks or anything of that sort," the Hokage smiled approvingly at the sullen Naruto staring out at him from the photo.

"Yeah, whatever," Naruto said moodily. "It's only cause that camera guy wouldn't let me take it how I wanted."

"That was wise of him, then," Sarutobi said. He slid the photo, along with Naruto's signed registration papers into an envelope and sealed it shut. "There, you are now an official genin of Konohagakure."

That was more than enough to pull Naruto out of his sulking, and he gave a thumbs up to Iruka who was standing by the Hokage's side. The chūnin smiled at him in response.

"Now then," Sarutobi turned serious. "Before I let you go, I need to ask if anything unusual happened last night."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Um-" There was a loud bang at the door someone tried to burst in the room.

"Ow! Why's the door locked?" a high pitched, bratty voice complained from the other side. The Hokage had asked Iruka to lock it when Naruto came in, as the fewer people there were that knew about this dream business, the better. Whoever it was at the door wasn't about to give up, however, and banged furiously at it. "Come on, let me in Old Man! Hiding in there wont save you!"

"Er, should I-?" Naruto began.

"No," Sarutobi cut him off, his face every bit as stony as his likeness on the mountain. From outside, the frantic footfalls of another person rushed up to the door.

"Honorable Grandson!" a deeper, older voice scolded. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Leave me alone!" the younger one cried.

"You know I cannot do that, Honorable Grandson," the elder said. "You simply must stop bothering Hokage-sama like this."

"But I need to beat him!" the boy whined. "I wanna be Hokage! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!"

The elderly leader of Konoha slumped in his seat, a profound weariness etched into his wrinkled face.

"That's enough!" the elder voice said sharply. "If you keep up this kind of behavior you'll be lucky to become a shinobi at all. Now come with me, right this minute." There came the sound of a brief scuffle, and then the sound of someone being dragged.

"Let me go, you stupid jerk!" the boy shouted furiously.

"Honorable Grandson, stop behaving like this, it's unbecoming of-_ow_!" The quick patter of feet signaled that the boy had escaped, with the man giving close chase.

As their footsteps receded into the distance, Sarutobi buried his face into his hands and groaned. When his children had grown, it had seemed like he would never have to deal with nonsense like this again. What he had so foolishly forgotten to consider was that they might want to reproduce as well, and so here he was, right back in it.

"The heck was that about?" Naruto asked craning his head back at the door.

"Just forget about it," the Kage waved the question off. "Let's get back to the matter at hand, shall we?"

"Oh uh, right," Naruto quickly turned back. "Let's see.. I don't think anything weird happened, I mean I didn't wake up with a shadow clone in my bed or nothing like that."

"Are you sure?" Sarutobi pressed. "Do you remember what you dreamed about last night?"

Naruto's face turned red. "Yeah, but it wasn't all messed up or anything like the last one was."

"Nevertheless, I'd like to hear about it," the Hokage insisted.

"Um, okay," Naruto squirmed in the hard wooden seat. "Well, I had just been made Hokage, and-" an image of that grown up Hinata in his arms flashed like an exploding light bulb "-I-I had a wife."

"A wife?" Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Someone you have a crush on?" he teased.

"Uh, no," Naruto quickly lied. "I don't remember who it was."

"Really?" Iruka shot him a knowing grin. "Are you sure it wasn't Sakura? I've seen the way you act around her."

Naruto's eyes fell to his toes sticking out of his sandals, his face turning redder than the Hokage's hat.

"Did anything else happen in this dream?" Sarutobi continued.

The genin shook his head. "No, that's about it. What do you think?"

"I think that it was a completely normal dream," Sarutobi said. "It's not surprising that nothing happened last night. If someone truly was responsible for whatever it was that happened to you, it would make sense that they wouldn't want to repeat it after arousing so much suspicion."

"Hokage-sama," Iruka began. "Do you think that whoever did this might try it again at some point?"

"I said _if _someone was responsible," Sarutobi corrected. "Which right now is a completely unsupported theory. It might very well be the case that what happened was simply a one time anomaly, or it might even be the awakening of some previously unknown power within Naruto. We have nothing to go on, so one explanation is as good as the other. For now, Naruto, all I can say is that you should remain vigilant, and immediately report anything unusual to me."

"Yeah, no problem," Naruto nodded. "So, uh, is that it?"

"Yes," the Hokage said. "You may go now, but be sure to get back here early tomorrow. You wouldn't want to keep your new sensei wait, would you?"

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed. "That reminds me, you're still putting the teams together, right?"

"Yes," the Hokage stated. "Why do you ask?"

"Can you put me on Hatake Kakashi's team? Please?" Naruto put his hands together in a begging gesture. "Iruka-sensei told me all about him yesterday and he sounds _so _cool."

"He did, did he?" Sarutobi shot a glance at Iruka, who looked like he'd just swallowed a cup full of pond scum. "Well, whatever he said, I can't place you on a team simply at your request. You will be placed on a team according to your skill and compatibility with your fellow genin."

"Compatibility?"

"Those who I believe will work the best with you and get along with you," Sarutobi clarified.

"That makes sense, I guess," Naruto said. "At least that means you wont be putting that bastard Sasuke on my team."

"Naruto!" Iruka scolded. "Mind your language around Hokage-sama."

"What makes you say that?" Sarutobi waved off the academy instructor's protest.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "He goes around acting like he's so much better than everyone else, but he's not. He's just a rude jerk with a bad hairdo. You're not gonna put him on my team, right?"

"If I was, I certainly wouldn't tell you," Sarutobi said. "In any case, you don't get a say in who goes into your team. You'll just have to accept who you're given like everyone else."

"Fine, I get it," Naruto sulked, and stood to leave. He was getting Sasuke in his team. He could feel it in his bones. "See you tomorrow, I guess."

As soon as the door closed behind Naruto, Sarutobi turned a sharp, disapproving glare at the chūnin next to him.

"Um, did you need something, Hokage-sama?" Iruka did his best to keep from wilting under the older man's heavy gaze.

"You do understand why we don't discuss team placement with the students don't you?" the Hokage questioned. "It is precisely for this reason. Do you think I want to have every one of them in here demanding that I swap around their teammates and sensei at their whim?"

"No, Hokage-sama," Iruka bowed deeply. "Please accept my apology."

"I suppose there was no real harm done," he relented. "But still, he did raise a troubling point. It's true that he's not too fond of the young Uchiha, isn't it?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Iruka shook his head. "Naruto tries to pick fights with Sasuke all the time. It never goes well for him, but that hasn't stopped him yet."

"Hm, well that's a shame," Sarutobi said. "From the outset I had envisioned them in a team together, and there's a good reason for that."

"What would that be, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked.

"Sasuke is the best student in your class, and Naruto is the worst. It's simply a matter of balance," Sarutobi deflected the question. Iruka was a goodhearted man, and deeply protective of Naruto, but that sometimes blinded him to necessity. If he realized the true reason that the last two people in Konoha that were capable, or in Sasuke's case, potentially capable, of using the Sharingan were to be on Naruto's team, he'd be furious. For him, Naruto wasn't anything more than a lonely little boy, no matter what may be sealed within him. Yet, as much as it pained the Hokage, he couldn't afford to be so sentimental. "Suffice to say that there is no chance at all of them ending up on different teams."

"Well, at least Naruto will get the sensei he wants," Iruka shrugged. "What about his other teammate?"

"I was considering Haruno Sakura," Sarutobi said. "What was that you said earlier? Something about the way he acted around her?"

"Oh, well," Iruka rubbed his nose. "Naruto's got quite the crush on her, but he's so clumsy about it." He gave a small chuckle. "I don't think I've ever seen someone crash and burn so many times."

"So Haruno isn't interested in him?" Sarutobi frowned. Unrequited love was exactly the sort of drama that you didn't want on a team. These people would be spending quite a lot of time together, often isolated in the wilderness. Any sort of bitterness, or grudge, would breed in that environment, and strain the team's cohesion. On missions, in hostile territory, they would need to be unreservedly devoted to each other, and completely focused on their goals with no distractions. Teams had collapsed, and people had died, over far pettier issues than broken hearts.

"No, Sakura's only interested in Sasuke," Iruka said.

"And I don't suppose he's ever reciprocated. So we have Naruto, who's chasing after Sakura, who rejects him in favor of Sasuke, and he in turn spurns her," he laughed to himself. "It's almost like something out of Jiraiya's books"

"Hokage-sama?"

"Uh, yes well," Sarutobi said, quickly brushing away the comment. "However it might work as a book, for a team it's quite a problem." He shook his head. "No, this wont work at all."

"What do you think should be done, then?" Iruka queried.

"Like I said, Sasuke and Naruto must be in the same team, they'll just have to work out their differences, so that means we need to swap out Sakura."

"Who did you have in mind?" Weren't the teams supposed to be finalized by now? At least a few of the jōnin already knew who their students were going to be, and they probably wouldn't appreciate having things changed around at the last second.

"Give me some time to think about it," Sarutobi said, motioning Iruka to the door. "Don't worry, I will have a finished list ready by the time you get here tomorrow."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Iruka bowed and promptly left the Hokage by himself.

Alone, the nearly seventy year old Hokage leaned back in his seat and dropped his hat onto the table. He ran a hand through his hair, the one part of him that had held up reasonably well against the ravages of time. A replacement for Haruno Sakura, who would it be? In theory, there were eight available teams besides Team Seven, but most of them held completely unremarkable genin, and that wouldn't do. It would be an utter waste to have Naruto on a team that would fail their jōnin's test, or all wind up in some unremarkable desk job, no offense to Iruka. In order to address his own deficiencies, and to ultimately become a great shinobi, what he needed was to be surrounded by the exceptional. Exceptional teammates to pull him up when he fell, and an exceptional sensei to put him on the right path. The possibility of Naruto washing out of the ninja ranks, or simply reaching some mediocre dead end was one to be avoided at all costs.

This was rank favoritism, of course, and were this any other student he would never think to do something like this. Sasuke, a prodigy and member of one of the founding clans of Konoha but still forced to sit through the full six years at the academy, was certainly proof of that. And god knew that he was never so kind to Asuma. But it had to be done in Naruto's case, fairness be damned. Naruto wasn't simply someone that Sarutobi cared about, or Minato's son, he was Kyūbi jinchūriki. Not only was he to protect Konoha, and more broadly then entire world, from the demon's incredible power, but he would eventually be expected to master that power and use it for the good of the village. It was an enormous, almost impossible task that had been laid out before him, and he would never meet it unless he fully realized his potential.

All that considered, there were only six students out of twenty-four that met Sarutobi's criteria, those of Team Ten and Team Eight. Team Ten was, of course, untouchable not just because of tradition, but because Asuma would never accept it. As soon as he found out, his son would storm in to his office, that vein in his forehead standing out, and things would quickly turn ugly. The boy probably wouldn't speak to him for weeks. And then of course the clan heads would be in here, stamping their feet. "What right do you have to just overturn generations of history? Don't our clans' sacred traditions mean anything to you? How could you, a Sarutobi of all people, do something like this?" Just thinking about it made his temples throb.

So that left Team Eight, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyūga Hinata. In this case he didn't have to worry about violating some cherished history, or infuriating any of his children, but that didn't exactly mean he was happy to break this team up. Team Eight had been originally conceived in order to perform spying, tracking, and reconnaissance duties. Putting together an Aburame, and Inuzuka, and a Hyūga would definitely get you team that excelled in that field, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. The unique taijutsu of the Hyūga and Inuzuka clans, combined with the long range techniques of an Aburame made for a deadly combat squad. The Aburame's kikaichū, combined with an Inuzuka ninken, could detect virtually any poison in the smallest amounts, and the kikaichū could even enter the body in order to remove toxins. Add to that the Hyūga's Byakugan and you had a solid medical team. Then, of course, there was the fact that, with the heightened senses of the Hyūga and Inuzuka, and the rudimentary nervous system of the kikaichū, this team would be almost completely immune to genjutsu. Here was a team that could be effective in almost any capacity, but then do one thing extraordinarily well. It was a rarity to find such versatility in a team specifically created for one particular task.

Which was exactly the problem. Putting together a team like this required a very delicate balance, and replacing Sakura with any of them would lead to diminishment. Sakura lacked any genjutsu immunity, the enhanced senses or unique taijutsu of the Hyūga or Inuzuka, and she certainly didn't have a swarm of kikaichū at her disposal. As a result, she wouldn't be particularly useful as a tracker, and her cookie cutter shinobi skills did little to make her stand out in any other capacity. Still, according to her file, she was utterly brilliant, being the only one in her class that regularly outperformed Sasuke in written exams, and she had almost perfect chakra control. From that perspective, at least, putting her in a team with a genjutsu expert like Yūhi made sense. It wouldn't quite measure up to Team Eight as it currently was, but she could still be quite effective with those teammates. In any case, having two good teams was better than having one great team and one that was about to fall apart. Whatever their skills, there was simply no way he could allow Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke to be together. Not while they had that ridiculous love triangle tying them up.

Sarutobi picked up his pipe and tapped a small bag of tobacco into it. One simple fire jutsu and it was lit, filling the room with its smoky scent. He took a long draw on it, and then let it out in a slow, satisfied breath as the nicotine seeped into his bloodstream. Now then, who would it be? Shino, Kiba, or-?

000

"Hinata-sama," Hyūga Neji greeted his cousin icily. With those cold eyes and stony features, he looked the spitting image of his uncle, though of course she would never dare say so to him. He didn't give her a chance to reply and quickly brushed past her without another word.

Almost every day Hinata would run into Neji, they both lived in the same compound after all, and every day he give her the same cold, formal greeting. And every day Hinata did her best to ignore that awful stinging pain that went through her chest. How could her own name sound so much worse than even the ugliest insult? She shook it off, because that was all she could do, and continued down the hallway to her quarters. The Hyūga compound was by no means the sprawling village within a village that the Uchiha district was, but it still carried the same air of grandeur and power that the Hyūga themselves did. It was all the more true here in the main house where the head family of the clan resided.

For Hinata, however, it was nothing but a relief to be out the chilly, imposing hallways of the building, and in the safe haven of her room. It may have lacked the opulence one would expect of the heiress of one of the most prodigious clans in Konoha, but after a day spent among her clan mates, small and cozy suited her fine. At least in here she didn't have to worry about being caught under the disapproving gaze of her father, or the disdainful glare of her cousin. She dropped down onto her bed, fiddling with the silver zipper on her jacket. All day her stomach had been rolling around with anxiety, bad enough that she'd somehow managed to do even worse in today's sparring match with her sister.

Tomorrow, she'd be assigned to a genin team, put with two of her classmates to train and work with for years to come. Would she be placed on Naruto's team? There was no way of knowing, and nothing she could do about it, but all day that question of _what if_ had plagued her. Would Naruto even want her on his team? The way he chased after Sakura made it clear which girl he preferred, and the image of Naruto disappointed at having to settle for her made her queasy. And that was assuming she actually was put on his team. It was entirely possible, likely even, that she wouldn't, and then what would she do? Even now, going to the same class every day, just saying hello to him was an achievement. If they were split apart, working on different teams, doing separate missions, when would she ever get the chance to even speak to him? Just today she had by chance caught him out in the village, and as soon as she worked up the courage to say hello to him, he ran off, barely paying her any mind.

This was hopeless, some sort of cruel joke that was being played on her. Naruto hardly even glanced at her, and after tomorrow she wouldn't even have that.

"Hinata?" a voice called from the other side of her door. She quickly stood, wiping away the tears that had welled up as she wallowed in her despair, and cracked it open. The face of her younger sister greeted her on the other side.

"D-Did you need something, Hanabi?" she sniffled, trying to conceal the fact that she had just been crying.

"Are you alright?" it didn't work, as the younger Hyūga's brows drew together.

"I'm fine," she lied.

"You sure?" Hanabi pressed. "You seemed sort of off today, like you were distracted or something."

"Oh, ah, it's nothing really," Hinata reassured her. Her seven year old little sister was checking up her like some worried mother. This had to be a new low.

"Alright, then," Hanabi lowered her gaze. "See you later, I guess."

Hinata shut the door, and listened to the sound of her sister's footsteps as she headed back down the hall. Pity from her little sister was quite a bitter pill to swallow, no matter how well intentioned it might have been. The second born of Hiashi had already distinguished herself as quite the prodigy, coming dangerously close to surpassing Hinata in her mastery of Jūken, and as one more worthy to succeed their father. And now she had already begun to look down on her elder sister, just like everyone else did.

How long would it be before she saw Hinata as the failure that she undoubtedly was? How long before that look of sympathy and concern turned to impatience, and then finally to dismissal? How long before she too reminded her of her father? She rolled over on the bed and pulled the soft blanket over her as if to shield herself from her own thoughts. At least Naruto would never look at her like that, she told herself, if only because he never looked at her at all.

Finally, she sighed to herself, and sat back up. As taxing as this day had been, it was still much too early to sleep. The sun was still up and she hadn't even had dinner yet. If she was lucky, then Father would be too busy to eat at the table with her and Hanabi. If not, then that would be simply one more ordeal she would have to endure today. There was never much in the way of conversation at their meals, but once they were in the same room together the tension was palpable. Every once in a while he would point those steely, pale eyes in her direction, and every time he did it felt like he was about to say something. It was as if he was fighting against the urge to blurt out all of his disappointment, to list all the ways she hadn't lived up to his expectations. It was a miracle that she managed to keep down any food at all.

Idly, she had begun rifling through the drawer on her bed stand, and pressed against the bottom, she found a worn old photo. She peeled it off the wood of the drawer, and turned it around to find her class staring up at her. This had been taken on their very first day at the academy, and that was reflected not only in how faded it was, but how small everyone looked. Especially Naruto, who stood grinning at her from the front, that black t-shirt hanging loosely from his thin frame. Two spots behind him, she found herself, barely managing a smile for the camera. That day, Naruto had decided to make an impression on his new teachers by leaving a firecracker on Iruka-sensei's chair. The chūnin had plopped onto his chair, a loud bang had echoed through the classroom, and he'd leaped out of his seat, hands to his backside as he howled in agony. At the time, she'd found the display more frightening than amusing, but now she couldn't help but giggle.

From then on, it had been a constant parade of frogs, stink bombs, graffiti, and anything else Naruto could think of. They always caught him, of course, and forced him to stay after school scrubbing down every inch of the academy's halls. It didn't faze him in the slightest. He wanted to have fun, and no amount of punishment or disapproval could stop him. That was the Naruto she had known for six years. She gently placed the picture back in the drawer, a warmth spreading though her. Even if she wouldn't get to see him from now on, it would would be enough.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a great roaring sound, as if he was standing next to a waterfall. Chilly mist sprayed through the great scar of a canyon, thick enough to dim the sun. Stretching out high above him was a colossal statue that had apparently been carved into the rock wall, and at its feet was Sasuke. The Uchiha was crouched low, black marks spreading across his face and what looked like a ball of lightening sparking in his hand. Even from here he could see the feral hatred twisting the dark haired boy's normally placid face. In a flash Sasuke was sprinting at him, his arm stretched out behind him as bolts of electricity streaked from his hand and cracked the ground beneath him. The bottom fell out of Naruto's stomach, and he desperately tried to dodge the lethal attack, but it was too late.

With his lips pulled back in a vicious snarl, Sasuke plunged his arm into Naruto's chest. The ball of electricity erupted within him, tearing his lung to shreds. Strangely, there was no pain, only a cold numbness that overtook him as he struggled to breathe. Sasuke smirked at him, and up close Naruto could see that his cold eyes had turned blood red, with two tomoe swirling in each iris. Still with that evil grin on his face, the Uchiha brought his other hand to Naruto's throat and squeezed it shut. He struggled weakly against Sasuke's iron grip, but it wasn't long before his vision began to fade. As the darkness overcame him, the last thing Naruto saw was Sasuke's merciless eyes staring into his own.

He floated, or perhaps fell through that blackness for an immeasurable amount of time, and then abruptly he was righted. In that endless void, two enormous eyes flicked open in front of him. They were as red as Sasuke's had been, but lacked any tomoe, and they gazed almost lazily at him. A deep, booming laughter surrounded him on all sides, and below the two eyes a wide row of fanged teeth appeared, each one the size of a small building. That great, hideous mouth split open and swooped down toward him.

Naruto screamed, thrashing about under his covers until he rolled off his bed with a thud. The shock of the impact was enough to pull him out of his dream, and the boy looked wildly about, gasping for air. He took long, deep breaths, trying to calm his pounding heart as he put his hand to his chest. Naruto leaned against his bed and curled his knees up as he buried his head in his hands.

_Holy shit. _And he thought he knew what nightmares were before. He looked down at his chest, right below his shoulder, where the feeling of Sasuke's arm still lingered. A sudden sob racked through him as he fingers traced the phantom outline of the wound, and he fought back bitter tears. How could Sasuke do something like that? Weren't they supposed to be-? Supposed to be what? They hardly spoke, and when they did it was only to hurl insults at each other. So then what was this feeling, like he'd been betrayed? Rubbing his moist eyes, he shakily stood and tried to push away the sour mix of emotions that swirled around him.

Sunlight streamed through his window, giving the room a cheer that he didn't share in. Glancing at the clock he saw that he had a little more than an hour left before he needed to be at the academy. Naruto drooped slightly. For all of yesterday he could barely contain himself at the promise of what the next day would bring, but now, as he looked at the hour marks on his ticking clock that told of what a long day he had ahead of him, it took all of his willpower not to just fall back into his bed. Only the threat of another nightmare kept him from giving into the temptation to spend the rest of the day asleep. He put his hand to his forehead and sighed. How was it that sleeping of all things had left him so exhausted?

Still, however weary he felt, today was too important to skip, and in any case he could expect Iruka-sensei to show up and drag him there by his ear if he tried it. So, with shoulders slumped, he stumbled away from his bed and towards his refrigerator. Yanking it open, he found only a lone carton of milk to greet him. Grabbing it, he frowned. It was warmer than it should have been. It was then that he noticed that the soft humming of his fridge was absent.

"God damn it," he swore. That stupid motor had died again. He picked up the milk carton and gave it a few shakes. The thick sloshing sound wasn't very encouraging, and so he pulled the mouth open and gave an experimental sniff. He recoiled, his lip curling, as the foul stench of spoiled milk greeted his nose. He quickly shut it and tossed it haphazardly back into the broken fridge. Oh well, he didn't have much of an appetite right now anyway.

Naruto made his way to his closet, where his usual orange jacket and pants greeted him, along with a small collection of shirts. He tossed one of them on in place of his pajama top, then did the same with the pants. Grabbing his jacket, he pulled it on, still zipped up. With a bit of struggling, he managed to get his head through the hole.

As he grabbed his sandals and leaned against the wall to slip them on, a thought occurred. The Old Man would want to know about this. He had said to report anything strange, and incredibly vivid dreams about being murdered by one of his classmates certainly qualified. A fresh wave of weariness washed over Naruto. Why was this happening to him? For years he'd had perfectly normal, unremarkable dreams, and then all of a sudden it was like his brain had turned on him. Even the one from yesterday, though not anything like the one he'd just had, was still utterly bizarre. And now he was dreaming about being run through by Sasuke. A shudder ran though him as the image of the Uchiha's cruel gaze floated up in his mind.

He finished putting on his sandals and quickly tied on his headband, and made for the door. As he put his hand on his doorknob, dread filled his chest.

_Please_, he begged silently, _please don't let that bastard be on my team_.

000

"Naruto?" Iruka said, stunned, as the genin stepped into the room. The chūnin put his hands on his hips. "Oh, I see. After all these years of being late for class, you wait until the last day to come in early, Very funny."

Naruto smiled weakly and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. Didn't sleep that good."

"Really?" Iruka took on a concerned tone as Naruto trudged to his seat and slumped into it. "Was it another dream?"

"Uh, well-" The door slid open again, and Uchiha Sasuke strode in, one hand in his pocket and cool indifference written on his face.

"Ah, hello Sasuke," Iruka said quickly. The dark haired genin raised a single hand to acknowledge the greeting as he made his was to his own spot, just two spaces from Naruto.

The blond went rigid as Sasuke took his seat next to him. Of course he would be here early as well. That was just like the overachieving jackass. But still, to come in so soon after him, he must have been right behind him the entire time. He looked sidelong at the Uchiha. How had he not noticed?

Sasuke caught Naruto's stare and shot him a glare. "What?"

"N-Nothing!" Naruto's head snapped back to the front of the class as an unpleasant chill ran down his spine. Apparently placated, Sasuke went back to staring impassively into the middle distance like he usually did.

Naruto rubbed his face in his hands. God, what was wrong with him? It was just _Sasuke _for crying out loud. Sure the Uchiha was an unrepentant asshole, and sure he couldn't so much as lay a finger on him when they sparred, but that by no means meant that he was someone to fear, dreams be damned. He should turn right back towards him and tell that smug prick that he could look wherever the hell he wanted. All he actually did, though, was scowl to himself and cross his arms. It wasn't a good idea to pick a fight with him right now, he reasoned. Iruka-sensei was right there after all, and he'd put a stop to things pretty quick. But later, as soon as they were free of any meddling teachers, he'd show that bastard that he wasn't scared of anyone. The thought was enough to bring a smile back to Naruto's face.

"Good morning, Hinata," Iruka said warmly, looking up from his papers as the Hyūga stepped into the room.

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei," she said meekly, giving her usual bow to her teacher. As she turned for her seat, she noticed Naruto was in the room with her, and a blush promptly appeared on her cheeks. A long moment passed as she stood in placed, debating with herself whether she should try to say something to him.

"Are you alright, Hinata?" asked Iruka.

"Ah, y-yes, I'm fine," she stuttered and hurried up to her seat. In her chair, far behind Naruto's she slumped her shoulders slightly and sighed. That might very well have been her last chance to have any sort of meaningful conversation with Naruto before they were all cordoned off into different teams. Why was she such a coward? Even Sakura didn't hesitate to approach the object of her affection, no matter how unsuccessful the effort was. Every time she thought about doing the same, however, this horrible fluttery feeling filled her stomach, her head swam, and all the courage drained out of her. And now here she was, scolding herself again, just like the day before, and the day before that.

A relative calm pervaded over the room for a while, as students trickled in and a few small groups began whispering among themselves. Shino stalked in after about fifteen minutes, look somehow even more stoic than Sasuke behind those sunglasses of his. He greeted Hinata with a curt nod as he took his seat next to her. Soon after, Kiba came in with Akamaru riding on his head.

"Hey Hinata," Kiba grinned at her, as Akamaru barked his own hello.

"Good morning, Kiba, Akamaru," Hinata gave her own formal greeting as they plopped down on her other side.

"So, today's the day, eh?" Kiba said excitedly. "Who do think you're gonna get for a sensei?"

"Um, I haven't really thought about it..." Hinata had been so preoccupied with Naruto that the thought of her new teacher had fallen by the wayside.

"Yeah? 'Cause my mom was talking about this guy, Kakashi, who's supposed to be the coolest guy ever," Kiba pumped his fist. "Oh man, the stuff my mom said about him, you'd think he'd be Hokage by now."

"You realize there isn't much point in talking about it, Kiba," Shino said, pushing up his glasses. "We're about to find out in just a few minutes."

"Ah, whatever," Kiba grumbled. "You're such a buzzkill."

The door slid open once more, and Shikamaru slouched into the room, with Chōji following close behind.

"Good morning, Shikamaru, Chōji," Iruka gave his usual greeting.

Shikamaru mumbled something in response as he strolled to his seat. Slumping down on it, he put his elbow on his desk and rested his face against his palm. Chōji slid in next to him, already working on a bag of chips.

Abruptly, there came the thunderous sound of footsteps rapidly approaching the door. Seconds later it was torn open and two girls, one with blonde hair, the other with bright pink, struggled to be the first through the threshold.

"Get that forehead of yours out of the way," Ino spat. "_I'm_ sitting next to Sasuke today."

"Not a chance, pig girl," Sakura countered, pushing her rival back. "That's _my_ seat."

Breaking free of the scuffle, Sakura zoomed towards her seat next to the Uchiha without so much as a wave to Iruka.

"Move it, Naruto!" she said grabbing him by his collar and tugging him to the ground. She slid in to the seat right next to the object of her affection and smiled demurely, her cheek beginning to match her hair. "Good morning, Sasuke."

He didn't so much as glance in her direction, instead opting to lean as far away from the pink-haired pest as possible.

"Ow, hey Sakura, what'd you do that for?" Naruto whined, clutching his aching head.

"Be quiet Naruto," Sakura snapped at him, before turning back to her Sasuke. "So, um, do you think we might end up on a team together?"

Sasuke gave no reply, purposefully looking away from her. She fidgeted uncomfortably at the stony treatment. Always, _always, _he blocked her out. Why was simply saying a few words to her so horrible? Why couldn't he just accept the fact that they were meant for each other? She sighed. He was so beautiful, and yet so cold. But that would make it all the more worth it when she finally melted that icy heart.

Naruto glared at Sasuke's chilly display. Why did Sakura waste her time chasing after this guy? He didn't even look at her, so why was she still so infatuated with him? It wasn't just her, but every girl, and even a couple of the boys in class were constantly swooning over the "great" Sasuke. What did he ever do to deserve all this attention anyways? He just sat there, staring off at nothing, never talking to anyone like he was the only goddamned person in the world. He clenched his fist. Forget about Iruka, this bastard was practically begging to be knocked down a couple pegs.

Just as Naruto was about to do something drastic, Sasuke caught his glare and shot him one of his own. It wasn't anything more than the usual mean look Sasuke gave at him on a daily basis, and spoke of nothing more than mild irritation. Yet, looking into those eyes, Naruto couldn't help but see that bloodthirsty, almost maniac look from his nightmare, and all the moxie went out of him. Defeated before any contest even began, he dropped limply back into his seat and let his eyes fall to the desk.

"Alright, settle down everyone," Iruka called. "As I'm sure you're all aware, today you'll be separated into nine teams of three. From now on, you'll be under the tutelage of jōnin sensei, and you'll start performing missions for the village. This is a great honor, and you should all be proud to have made it this far. Now," he pulled up a sheet of paper. "with all that said, let's start with Team One..."

Iruka went down the list, calling out the names as he did. Most of the new genin were paired with friends, and so there were quite a few grins and thumbs up as the teams were named. A few, however, were not so lucky, and tried to hid their disappointment with varying success. Before long, Iruka had finished calling out the members of Team Six, and his eyes flicked down the list.

"Team Seven," he called out. "Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hinata?" Ino blurted out, raising her eyebrow skeptically at the girl. "She's the one who get's to be with Sasuke? I mean, does she even like boys?"

Hinata was too busy trying to keep her heart from soaring out of her chest to respond. There was no way, she must have been dreaming. That fluttery feeling in her stomach seemed to increase a thousand-fold, and her face turned scarlet.

A few rows down, her crush was rather less enthused with the team arrangement.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Naruto sprang up in protest. He wouldn't accept this, no way in hell would he allow them to stick him Sasuke. "What's the idea, putting me with this loser, huh? Why can't you find me a better teammate than this jackass?"

"The 'idea,' Naruto," Iruka said, scowling at his unruly former student, "was balance."

"Balance?" questioned Naruto. "The hell does that mean?"

"It means that Sasuke is the best student in the class, and you are the worst," Iruka pointed a finger at Naruto. "You should be grateful to have someone as talented as Sasuke to help you along."

"Wha- but-" Naruto stuttered. "This ain't-"

"Shut up already," Sasuke cut him off. Naruto nearly leaped out of his skin.

"W-What did you say?" challenged Naruto.

"I said," Sasuke turned his full gaze on the blond. "Shut up, you failure."

Naruto clenched his teeth, but found he could do no more than that. With a frustrated growl, he sat back down and glared at the wall.

"Now then," said Iruka with a small cough. "Team Eight will be Aburame Shino, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzuka Kiba."

Sakura didn't react at all to the announcement. The moment Team Seven had been called out, her head had dropped. That was it, then. Her best chance at winning over Sasuke, robbed from her. She crossed her arms over her chest, the room suddenly seemed much colder. It had always been a long shot, of course, but that did nothing to dull the sting of it. She sniffed. She'd told herself, that if the worst came to pass, and she wasn't on his team, that she would not cry. She would not cry. She _wouldn't._

"...and Team Ten will be Akimichi Chōji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino," Iruka reached the end of the list. "At this time, I'd like you all to change seats and group together into your teams. Your new sensei will be here shortly."

"Huh, how 'bout that," Kiba said, scratching his nose. "Thought for sure that you'd be on our team, Hinata. Oh well, have fun with the Uchiha, I guess." He snickered as Hinata shakily stood.

She scurried down the aisle to where her new teammates were waiting, only to find Sakura still sitting in between the two of them. The pink-haired girl still had her head down, the long locks hiding her face.

"Um, excuse me," she began quietly, pressing her fingers together. She didn't need to say anything more. Sakura nodded once and turned to leave.

"Get out of my way," she growled at Naruto, and upon hearing the menace in her voice, the blond hastily complied. She stood, head still down, and stalked up to her team.

"Oh boy," muttered Kiba as she approached. "Hope you're ready for this, Shino."

"Ready for what?" Sakura demanded, glaring at the Inuzuka through reddened eyes.

"Nothing, Sakura" Kiba put on his best smile. Sakura's eyes bored in to his for a moment longer, but finally she relented and slumped miserably in Hinata's seat.

"Geez, what's with her?" Naruto scratched his head. "Oh, uh, go ahead," he added, offering Hinata Sakura's old spot.

"Ah, t-thank you," she bowed her head, and quickly slid in next to Sasuke. Hinata's heart thumped in her chest as Naruto sat next to her. This was really happening!

Naruto glanced past the blushing Hyūga at Sasuke, and his shoulders drooped. This was really happening.

000

"Oh come on!" Naruto shouted to the empty classroom. "Not this crap again!"

For the second time in only a few days, he found himself trapped for hours in this accursed school. One by one the other jōnin had come in and taken their teams, until only the three of them remained. Even Iruka had eventually given up on waiting for this last sensei, and with nothing more than a brief warning to Naruto to behave himself, he was gone. Well, it wasn't long before Naruto was on his feet, pacing around the classroom as his impatience mounted.

"This freaking Kakashi guy, making us wait like this." Naruto muttered as he circled around the desks.

"Wait," Sasuke spoke for the first time in nearly two hours. "How do you know his name?"

"Huh?" Naruto halted in his tracks. He rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, uh, yeah, Iruka-sensei told me a little about our sensei a few days ago. I mean, he didn't tell me exactly who it was gonna be, but the other guys he talked about already came. So it's gotta be Kakashi."

Sasuke grunted, leaning forward over the desk and steepling his fingers. Why would Iruka only reveal information like that to Naruto? "What did he say about him?"

"Um..." Naruto tiled his head back in thought. "He's supposed to be a really cool badass who fought in a war and stuff like that."

Well, that at least implied that this Kakashi might actually be worth his time. "Anything else?"

"Uh..." Naruto wracked his brain. There had been something else, but he couldn't quite remember it. Something about shards, or sharing? It was on right on the tip of his tongue. "Ah whatever, you'll find out about him pretty soon. At least, if he gets here you will," he added sharply as he glared daggers at the door.

A few seconds passed, and the door remained stubbornly shut. Naruto stomped his foot and stormed over to the chalkboard.

"That's it," he said, grabbing an eraser. "He deserves this."

"N-Naruto?" asked Hinata as he dragged Iruka's chair over to the door. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting even with this jerk for making us sit here like this," he answered, balancing himself upon the chair. He slid the door open a crack, and stuck the eraser in between it and the frame. Grinning mischievously, he stepped back to the ground and brought the chair back to the desk. He chuckled to himself. "Okay, now just wait. Oh man, this is gonna be so good."

"Um," Hinata began, staring worriedly at the eraser. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"What? 'Course it is," Naruto waved off her concern. "Just think of the look on his face when that thing drops on his head. He's gonna be scrubbing chalk out of his hair for _days_."

Sasuke scoffed. As if a jōnin, one of Konoha's elite, would ever fall for something like this.

There came the sound of footfalls coming down the hall. A hush fell over the three of them as they approached the door. Naruto waited with bated breath, a wide grin on his face. Sasuke, in spite of himself, was also watching as whoever it was closed in. Hinata toyed nervously with her jacket zipper, anxiety coursing through her.

The door slip open, and the eraser dropped right into the silver hair of Hatake Kakashi, giving off a small plume of chalk powder.

A laugh built in Naruto's throat, but as soon as he got a look at that masked face, that lanky frame, that half-lidded gray eye gazing lazily at him, it abruptly died. It was him! The one from that dream, the Rokudaime Hokage!

The tall jōnin stood languidly in the door threshold, his hand sunk into his pockets. His single exposed eye flicked from the shocked Naruto, to Hinata. The Hyūga kept her head down, squirming slightly under Kakashi's gaze. His eye then landed on Sasuke, who wasn't nearly so shy about returning his gaze. They stared at each other for a second, Sasuke shooting a defiant glare at the unconcerned jōnin, before Kakashi blinked slowly.

"Hm," he said. "Alright, first impressions time. Let's see..." he scratched his chin through his mask, before his single exposed eye closed in a smile. "I hate you all."

Hinata recoiled at Kakashi's words, while Sasuke merely scowled.

Naruto could do little more than stare, his mouth flapping open and closed like a fish. "Wha-?"

"Follow me, please," he motioned toward the door, and without another he'd already stepped out of the room into the hall. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance, before the three of them hurried after their teacher.

Kakashi strolled to the staircase leading to the top of the academy with his students in tow. Naruto couldn't keep his eyes off the jōnin's back as they followed him to the upper levels of the building. He'd never seen this man before in his life, that was certain. There was no way he'd ever forget someone as weird looking as this. So then what the hell was this guy doing in his dreams? Could he be responsible for what happened a few days ago? Naruto's hand clenched into a fist. He really needed to talk to the Old Man.

But that would have to wait for now, as Kakashi opened the door to the roof. Before them stood a row of stone arches, forming a small walkway that was flanked by six trees. He led them down past the trees, which seemed to grow impossibly out of small squares of soil cut into the roof tiles, to where the walkway terminated at some small steps. The jōnin walked down said steps and leaned against the roof's railing as his prospective students seated themselves upon them. That single eye of his regarded the three of them with all the interest and excitement of a sleepy cat.

"Okay," said the jōnin. "Introduction time."

"Eh" Naruto tilted his head.

"You know," Kakashi airily waved a hand. "Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, that sort of thing. How about you go first?"

Naruto scratched his cheek. "Well, I like ramen, I dislike waiting for ramen to cook. And for my dream, I'm gonna become Hokage!" He grinned and held out a fist.

Kakashi blinked. Well, Minato-sensei's son was pretty much exactly like the Sandaime had said he was. The stupid pranks, the grandiose dreams, it was all there.

"Alright," he nodded in Hinata's direction. "Your turn."

Hinata pressed her index fingers together, her eyes to the ground. "I-I enjoy pressing flowers, I dislike shellfish, and for my dreams, I... um.." She blushed and drew in on herself.

And that was also completely expected. No confidence whatsoever, didn't apply herself, could hardly even speak to people. He sighed internally. If he'd been more daring, he might have asked the Hokage what he was thinking letting these two graduate into the ninja ranks, but that was not his place. His job was just to test them, fail them, and send them packing.

"That leaves you," he cocked his head in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke gazed off into the distance. "I don't really like anything, and I hate a lot of things, and what I have isn't just a dream, but a goal that I will accomplish. I'm going to restore my clan, and," his eyes hardened and he almost whispered the next part, "I've sworn to kill someone."

This, too, was no surprise. Frankly, after all the boy had gone through it was a small miracle that he hadn't lost it completely. Still, it was by no means encouraging. In fact this entire team was a terrible mess that had been dumped onto his lap by the Hokage. One of them barely had what it took to pass the genin exams, one could hardly hold a conversation without trembling, and the third was some vengeance obsessed nutjob. Honestly, was the Sandaime playing a joke on him? How was a team like this ever supposed to pass muster?

Naruto gaped at the Uchiha, his eyes wide. Kill someone? Who? He once again felt Sasuke's knuckles scraping against the back of his ribcage, and ice dripped down his spine. But that had only been a dream! He had to be talking about someone else. What could he have even done to make Sasuke want to kill him? Yes they fought sometimes, well to be honest all of the time, but surely that wasn't enough to warrant some kind of blood vendetta, right?

Sasuke once again caught Naruto staring at him, and a hard scowl tugged at his lips. "What do you keep looking at me like that for?"

"No reason!" Naruto said much too loudly. His hands went up in a placating gesture as he scooted away from the Uchiha. He gave a wide, nervous grin at his teammate. "I just like your shirt, I guess!"

Whatever reaction Sasuke had been expecting, that had certainly not been it. He briefly raised an eyebrow at the comment, but quickly gave up on it. The idiot wasn't worth his attention.

Kakashi frowned at the display. What had that been about? Sarutobi had informed him that Naruto and Sasuke didn't get along well, but was it really this bad? All Sasuke did was glare at him, and it was like someone had dropped him in a cage with a ravenous tiger. That look in Naruto's eyes, it was one Kakashi had seen countless times, usually in the eyes of someone who had just realized that their enemy was far stronger than them. No Konoha shinobi should ever have a reason to look at one of their comrades like that. What had happened between the two of them?

"So, uh," asked Naruto. "What now?"

"Now," Kakashi answered. "You three will begin preparing for your first mission."

"A mission? Really?" Naruto was practically glowing. "What're we gonna do, huh, huh?"

"For your first mission, I was thinking we'd do some training," said Kakashi.

"More training?" Naruto drooped. "But that's all we ever do."

"This wont be a normal training session," the jōnin elaborated. "I'm going to test you, to see if you have what it takes to become genin."

"But haven't we already taken the genin exams?" Hinata spoke up. Immediately, she regretted doing so, as Kakashi bent his head down and his shoulders shook in a malevolent laugh.

"What's so funny?" demanded Naruto.

"Sorry," Kakashi said, his voice low. "It's just that, when I tell you, you three are going to lose it. You see, what you just took wasn't actually the genin exam."

"_What_?" Naruto almost shouted. "Then why the hell did why even have a test in the first place?"

"That was just to weed out the hopeless incompetents," Kakashi said. "Out of all the students who passed the first test, only nine will actually become genin. Almost seven in ten will fail."

The jōnin could barely hide his glee at the looks on their faces. It was like someone had told them that a bomb about to go off in their house.

"Now then," Kakashi continued. "You are to meet me at the Third Training Ground at seven in the morning tomorrow. Don't be late." He uncrossed his arms and stood as if to leave, but then paused. "Oh, one more thing. Don't eat dinner tonight. This training will push your bodies to their limit, and if you have anything in your stomach you might puke."

Now it was like someone had told them that they were trapped in a room with the bomb. Hinata in particular looked like she'd just been asked to sumo wrestle the Kyūbi. No matter how much of a pain testing these kids might have been, it was this exact moment that made it all worth it.

"See you tomorrow," he said with a cheerful smile, and in the next moment he was gone.

"Wow, he's gotta teach me to do that sometime," Naruto said, his eyes fixed to the small swirl of dust that had been called up by the jōnin's departure.

Sasuke snorted. As if he would last long enough to teach him anything. He pushed himself to his feet and buried his hands in his pockets. Without a word to either of his teammates, he walked back toward the roof door.

Hinata glanced over at Naruto. With no one else here, he suddenly seemed so much nearer. She pressed her fingers together, a blush coloring her cheeks.

"Um, N-Naruto," she said, her voice small, but still loud enough to catch the boy's attention.

"Yeah, Hinata?" Naruto turned to her. Why was she fidgeting like that? Did she need to pee or something?

"I w-was just thinking," she pushed herself to continue. "That, with this test coming, maybe we could, um, we could t-train together?" It wasn't exactly dinner and watching the sun set together, but that wasn't important.

"Eh," Naruto scratched his head. "Sorry Hinata, there's some stuff I gotta take care of today."

"Oh," Hinata's face fell.

"Well, see you later then," he said with a wave, and left her to nurse this fresh disappointment. Training probably would be good idea, but right now there was something else that demanded his attention. Just what the hell was going on with his dreams? First there was the Kage bunshin dream, though that had so far proved to be nothing other than a boon, then there was the one that showed him Kakashi more than a day before he'd first laid eyes on the man, and then, just last night… No, this had to stop, before things deteriorated further. So resolved, he pulled open the roof door and head down to the only person he knew of that might be able to help him.

000

There was a knock at the door. "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki Naruto wants to see you."

"Send him in," Sarutobi answered. The door swung open and the blond haired boy stepped in, an unusually somber look on his face. "Have a seat, Naruto."

Naruto complied, dropping onto the chair and rubbing his face in his hands.

"I had another dream," was all he said. Sarutobi's frowned at Naruto's miserable display.

"Not a very pleasant one, I take it?" he asked. Naruto chuckled and shook his head.

"This was probably the worst dream I ever had in my life," he said. He dropped his hands to his lap and looked directly at the old Kage. "I dreamed that Sasuke killed me."

The Sandaime was silent for a long moment, as he stared into Naruto's face.

"Tell me everything," he finally said.

"Okay," Naruto began. "We were in this canyon, and there was this big statue on one side of it, and Sasuke was standing underneath it. He had this jutsu, like there was lightening in his hand, and his eyes were red and- Oh man, you should've seen his face."

Red eyes on an Uchiha was obviously the Sharingan, but that jutsu, it couldn't be. Had Naruto ever seen the Chidori before? Only Kakashi ever used it with any regularity, and, as far as he knew, the two of them hadn't met before today.

"What happened next?" he urged Naruto on.

"He charged at me with the jutsu, and his arm went through my chest, right here," he pointed at right where his breast met his shoulder. "Then he started choking me and-and…" Naruto's face dropped to his lap, his shoulders trembling. "He just wouldn't stop _smiling._"

"Alright, Naruto," Sarutobi said gently. "I think I get it now."

"So what should we do?" Naruto asked desperately. "Am I just gonna keep having dreams like this?"

"There is one thing I can think of," Sarutobi said. When Naruto had come in with that first dream, it had appeared as if it was the fault of some outside threat. That didn't seem very likely now, and so all that remained were internal threats. "Listen Naruto, what I'm about to do might seem a little strange, but I promise you wont be harmed."

"Um, okay?" Naruto said cautiously. He gazed curiously as the Hokage stood and began clearing his desk of all its assorted clutter. Stacks of paper were placed on the floor, and quills were stuffed into drawers.

"Alright," said Sarutobi, dusting off the desk. "Lay down."

"Eh?" Naruto asked skeptically. "You mean on the desk?"

"Yes Naruto," nodded the Sandaime. "I'm going to perform an examination on your chakra pathway, to check for any disturbances."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with my dream?"

"In some cases, a wounded or imbalanced chakra network can cause nightmares," Sarutobi lied. Yes, he was going to examine Naruto, and yes it involved chakra, but nothing quite so mundane as his keirakukei. Were that the case, any medic-nin or properly trained Hyūga could do this. "Now, get on the desk."

Naruto complied, though still wearing a confused expression on his face. The Hokage stood over him, a frown weighing down his wrinkled face.

"Pull up the jacket, and your shirt too," he ordered.

"Hey, is this some kinda doctor thing?" Naruto asked. "Shouldn't we go to a hospital for this?"

There weren't many doctors who would know much about examining S-ranked fūinjutsu. "It's fine," he brushed aside the concern. "Now please, this is important."

Naruto gave no further protest and exposed his stomach to the Kage. Sarutobi quickly went through a series of hand seals, before placing his hands over the boy's abdomen. Right around the navel, a deep black seal spread over Naruto's belly. Sarutobi peered critically at it.

"What is that?" Naruto exclaimed, lifting his head to look at the inky swirl on his stomach.

"It's just an examination jutsu," Sarutobi said, still focused on the seal. His eyes scanned over Naruto's torso for a few moments longer, before he sighed and stood back. "You can get up now."

"So?" Naruto asked. "Am I gonna be alright?"

"I couldn't find anything wrong with you," this time Sarutobi told the truth. The seal was as pristine and solid as it had been when Naruto was still a baby. It appeared as if the Kyūbi hadn't made even the feeblest attempt to escape. This was good news, to be sure, but it did nothing by way of giving him an explanation.

"Well then, what?" Naruto asked irritably.

"I hate to admit it, but I really have no idea," Sarutobi said heavily.

"So you're just gonna give up?" the genin demanded.

"Of course not," Sarutobi defended himself. "But so far, nothing we've done has revealed what the problem might be. Which leads me to believe that this might have something to do with your mind."

"I'm not crazy," Naruto said firmly.

"That's not what I'm saying," Sarutobi held up a hand. "But we cannot ignore the possibility that there might be something in your psyche that's causing these dreams. Perhaps it would be best if you saw a specialist."

"Specialist?" Naruto repeated petulantly. "You mean like a shrink? So you do think I'm crazy."

"Naruto…"

"In that dream I told you about yesterday," Naruto said quickly. "The one where I was Hokage? Do you know who was Hokage before me? It wasn't you, it was Kakashi."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

"I mean, I just met him today, right? So then what was he doing in that dream?" Naruto began to work himself up. "And don't say that I met him earlier and forgot about it. That guy looks like a freak, I'd never forget seeing someone like him."

"Yes, but-"

"And what about _this_?" Naruto brought his hands together in the Kage bunshin seal. A clone popped into existence next to him, sharing his defiant expression. "If I'm just crazy, then how did I learn this jutsu, huh?"

Sarutobi stared down at the boy. That was indeed a good point. Kage bunshin, especially the kinjutsu variant that Naruto claimed to have read about in that dream, was not exactly the sort of thing that academy students frequently ran into. In fact, short of reading the Scroll of Seals, it was simply impossible that Naruto could have learned about the Tajū Kage Bunshin.

"Alright, Naruto, just calm down," Sarutobi attempted to placate the irate genin. "I've not yet made any final decision about what's to be done. I was only suggesting that we consider it as an option." He strode across his office, and pulled open a drawer in one of the small stands on either side of the room. Digging through it, he pulled out a small notebook and a pencil.

"Here," he said, handing them over to the real Naruto. "For now, what I'd like you to do is keep this by your bed, and if you have another dream like this, write it down."

"What for?" Naruto took them and stared warily at the notebook.

"I'd like to have a record of these dreams," Sarutobi explained. "Perhaps over a longer period some sort of pattern might show itself, and that could be the key to figuring this out."

"So you mean I have to have more dreams like last night?" Naruto's face soured.

"For now, there's not much else to do, I'm afraid," Sarutobi placed a sympathetic hand on the boy's shoulder. "But, with any luck, this will help us sort things out as quickly as possible."

"Fine," Naruto relented, stuffing the notebook and pencil in his pocket. A quick hand seal dispelled the clone. "I guess I better get going."

"I'll see you again soon, Naruto," Sarutobi smiled.

As Naruto trudged heavily out of the room and shut the door behind him, the Hokage set about getting his desk back in order. With a grunt, he hefted up a tall stack of reports and plopped in on his desk. A collection of stuffed envelopes followed soon after. He knelt down and carefully picked up a large, wide picture frame placed in a standing position on the floor. The painted images of his predecessors, and his successor greeted him. Sarutobi's eyes were swiftly drawn away from the faces of his two sensei, and onto that of Minato.

Suddenly, it was like all of his years had dropped onto his shoulders as he stared into the same blue eyes that had just been looking up at him moments before. Why hadn't Minato let him die to seal the Kyūbi? Why leave Naruto with without a father? What the boy needed was a real guardian, not the distant care of some worn down old shinobi. He needed real parents, not some irresponsible godfather who was never even in the village. So why did he deprive Naruto of these things? No answers would ever come from the paint, and so he placed it back on his desk with a small sigh. Whatever reason the Yondaime had, it didn't matter now. He was gone, and so the responsibility of protecting Naruto fell to him.

He sat upon his chair, folding his hands on the large wooden desk. He had raised two children, and watched over one of the great shinobi villages for years. Why, then, did that responsibility seem so daunting now?


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto strolled through that great patch of green that marked the training grounds with his arms behind his head and a tuneless hum in his throat. Sunbeams peeked over the eastern portion of the high wall, and the brilliant orange of the dawn had already begun to give way to a pale blue. A cool, gentle breeze fluttered through the enclosed forest, bringing the scent of morning dew to the genin. A smile tugged at his lips. No dream plagued him this morning, no scrolls, no weird make-out sessions with his teammate, and nothing like the nightmare of yesterday. Just eight solid hours of blissful oblivion. He'd left the Old Man's notebook lying unopened on the bed stand, giving its unadorned cover a joyous laugh as he left. Maybe, just maybe, the last few days had been a fluke. Maybe this curse, or haunting or whatever it was had finally come to an end.

The small dirt road came to a halt at solid treeline, split only by an even smaller, partly overgrown pathway. A small wooden sign had been planted into the ground at its beginning and though badly faded it clearly said "Third Training Ground." It was here that Naruto met his two teammates, Sasuke leaned against the trunk of a tree, his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on the ground. Hinata stood a small distance away, equally focused on the grass and dirt. She was the first to notice him, and managed a timid smile.

"Good morning, Naruto," she said with her small voice.

"'Morning Hinata!" he greeted back with a wave. "Man, is today a great day or what?"

"I suppose so..." truth be told the possibility of failing today's test, of having to go home to Father and tell him she wouldn't be a genin after all, didn't sound all that great to Hinata.

Sasuke glanced briefly in Naruto's direction. That cheerfulness wouldn't last long. Not after Kakashi was done with him. Iruka wasn't around to coddle him anymore, and when faced with a real test Naruto would see exactly how much of a failure he truly was.

"So how much longer is it gonna be, anyway?" asked Naruto. "It's almost seven, right?"

Sasuke shrugged.

Naruto crossed his arms as a frown broke his bright expression. "He better not be late _again_."

000

He was late again. The sun crept its way across the sky as the morning gave way to day. One hour became two, then three, and then four. Hinata shot a worried glance at the sun, almost at the top of the sky, while Sasuke carved marks into the tree bark with his kunai. Naruto stomped around the edge of the treeline, all of his earlier contentedness having long since evaporated.

"I can't believe this guy!" he shouted, scaring a flock of birds into the air. "Who the hell does he think he is?"

"Maybe there was something he needed to take care of?" Hinata offered lamely. Well, he was a jōnin after all, and they didn't usually have a lot of free time on their hands.

"Yeah, maybe," Naruto kicked over a rock. "Friggin' bastard, I'll give him something to take care of."

"Hm? What was that, Naruto?" a voice queried behind him. Naruto spun around to find Kakashi standing over him, his eye gazing lazily at him.

"Wha-? How did-?" Naruto angrily shook his head and stuck a finger at the masked jōnin. "What took you so long? We've been waiting here for hours!"

"Ah, I guess I'm running a bit late," his eye closed in a sheepish grin. "Sorry, my alarm clock broke."

"So you just slept in? For hours?" Naruto gaped at Kakashi's blatant lie.

"Well, I'm here now, so let's get to it," Kakashi said, adjusting the backpack he'd brought with him. "Follow me."

He led them through the cramped path, which gave way to wide grassy clearing, surrounded on all sides by forest. Off in the distance a black, sharply angled chunk of stone jutted up from the ground. Closer in three wooded posts stood over the unkempt grass. Kakashi ambled over to these posts, his charges trailing close behind. He slipped of the small red backpack and leaned it against the middle post. Unzipping it, he pulled out an ancient looking alarm clock with almost comically oversized alarm bells.

"Hey!" Naruto piped up. "Why didn't you just use that?"

"Sorry, did you say something?" Kakashi asked as he placed the clock on the wooded post. Naruto crossed his arms and grumbled to himself. Next, the jōnin pulled out two bento boxes, stacked on top of each other. These also went on the post.

"Here's how this works," Kakashi said, straightening and turning to his potential students. He pulled two bells tied to red strings out of his pocket. "You have one hour to take these bells from me. Those who do pass and get a lunch. If you don't get a bell, I'll tie you to this post and eat your lunch right in front of you. Now, as you can see, there are only two bells, so at least one of you is going back to the academy. I'll leave it to you to figure out who," Once again, their stricken faces were like ray of sunlight on a cloudy day. "This isn't practice," he continued. "Unless you come at me with everything you have, you wont stand a chance of passing."

The three of them stared, tense, as Kakashi wound up the alarm clock. He held his finger over the button. "Are you three ready? Good. Then, begin!"

In a flash, Sasuke was gone. The Uchiha sped toward the cover of the treeline, hopping up into their branches and hiding withing the leaves. Hinata, initially, moved to do the same, but she skidded to a halt upon glancing back. What was Naruto doing? He was just standing there, hands on his hips, right in front of Kakashi. Why hadn't he tried to hide? He surely wasn't about to try and face the jōnin directly, right? That confident grin on his face wasn't exactly encouraging. She twisted the front of her jacket, her eyes flicking back to the tree cover. She couldn't face a jōnin, she couldn't even beat her little sister, but if she didn't do something Naruto would be fighting alone against a far stronger opponent.

With one last furtive glance at the safety of the forest, she ran back to Naruto.

"N-Naruto!" she called out as she approached the blond. "We need to hide!"

"Hide?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "No way! Just watch, I'm gonna pound this guy into the dirt no problem."

"But-but-" Hinata struggled to find enough courage to argue with her crush.

"She's right, you know," Kakashi informed the genin. He'd pulled an orange book out his breast pocket and was flicking through it idly. "Attacking directly is just about the stupidest thing you can do."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto raised a fist at the silver-haired jōnin. "Let's see how stupid it looks with my foot up your ass."

At that comment, Kakashi struggled to stifle a giggle. Oh this poor dumb boy had no idea what was coming to him.

"I-I don't think this is a good idea," Hinata timidly protested. The way Kakashi was just standing there, one hand in his pocket and completely relaxed made him somehow even more intimidating.

"Well you go hide if you want," Naruto brushed her off. "But me, I don't run from anyone, 'specially not some mask wearing loser."

Hinata's eyes fell. Kakashi's eye flicked curiously to the Hyūga. Naruto had given her a pretty clear choice, so what would she do? A breeze flew through the field, tugging at the grass. Hinata's hands clenched into fists as she looked back up at Kakashi. The veins leading to her eyes from her temples visibly bulged as she activated her dōjutsu. Wordlessly she slid into the primary Jūken stance.

"Yeah, alright!" Naruto cheered with a grin. He took on his own, clumsy stance. "You and me, Hinata."

The praise was enough to bring a blush to Hinata's face, and she wavered slightly. Kakashi stared at her. So that was why she came back for him. The masked jōnin gave a small sigh through his nose. Naruto by himself Kakashi could take without even having to really paying attention, but now he had two opponents, one of them a Hyūga. Any Konoha shinobi worth their salt would recognize the danger that open palmed stance presented. Even the slightest touch from a Jūken user, no matter how inexperienced, could do serious harm. One well placed tap and an entire limb would be out of commission. Still, that was only if she was actually capable of laying a finger on him.

With the fiercest roar he could muster, Naruto charged. Kakashi flipped a page in his book as Naruto wound up his fist, aiming right for his gut. Then, at the last second, the jōnin stepped to the side and stuck out his leg. Naruto promptly tripped over it, landing face first in the damp earth. He quickly sprang up, wiping mud off his face. With a snarl, he leaped into the air, and let loose a wild kick at Kakashi's head. Without even bothering to look up from his book, Kakashi ducked under it. The momentum of his kick carried Naruto straight back into the dirt. He pushed himself back up again, shooting a glare at his opponent.

Kakashi straightened out of his crouched position, his eye still wandering down the page of his book.

Teeth bared, Naruto brought his hands together and formed a seal. Five more Narutos appeared around Kakashi. "Get him!" the original ordered. They didn't need any more urging than that, and with a collective shout they stampeded at Kakashi. The masked shinobi didn't seem all that concerned, and flipped through another page. The shadow clones all lunged at Kakashi, one reaching for the bells tied around his belt loop, and the other four simply aiming to land a blow on the jōnin.

Kakashi hopped back slightly, and the first four clones all knocked their heads together, and popped out of existence. The last one tripped over Kakashi's foot, just as the original had done. It jumped to its feet just in time to receive a quick backhand straight across the face, and it too vanished.

The masked shinobi glanced in Naruto's direction. "You done?"

Rubbing his cheek at the phantom pain of the blow, Naruto glared at Kakashi. He quickly brought his hands back together again, and this time more than a dozen bunshin appeared.

"Get him!" Naruto commanded again, pointing at Kakashi. They didn't need to be told twice, and with a collective cry, charged at the jōnin. The mass of clones rapidly closed in on Kakashi, surrounding him. He flipped another page of his book as they jumped at him.

They all collided with each other, and with a loud _poof_ they were gone. Kakashi was nowhere to been seen.

"Huh?" Naruto looked around, confused. "Where did-?"

"Behind you!" Hinata called out, sprinting towards him. Kakashi might have been able to slip Naruto's gaze, but there was no hiding from the Byakugan. She'd immediately caught the jōnin sneaking up behind him, with an evil gleam in his eye. Chakra pooled into her index and middle fingers as she closed in on Kakashi.

"Hm. Oh well," Naruto heard a voice say behind him. He tried to spin around, but Kakashi quickly grabbed him, one hand on his arm and the other clutching his jacket. Faster than he could blink, the jōnin pulled him to the right, using him as a human shield against the incoming Jūken strike. Hinata's eyes widened in horror as, at the last second, Naruto's shoulder was thrust in the path of her fingers. They plunged right into the armpit, and Naruto howled in agony as her chakra sliced through the joint. Numbness washed through his left arm and his hand went limp. Kakashi tossed him aside like a used rag, and he dropped to the ground moaning as pain shot through his shoulder.

"I-I'm so sorry!" tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes. She rushed to aid him. "P-Please, let me-" Kakashi quickly blocked her, his eye staring coldly down into hers.

"Let's see if you can do any better," he said, his voice like ice.

"But-" Hinata protested, her moist eyes glancing over at Naruto's prone form.

"Forget about him," he cut her off. "Do you want to be a shinobi or not?" The way he stood, knees bent slightly and with his side facing her, told Hinata that he wouldn't be taking her as lightly as he had Naruto. "If so, then come at me."

Hinata hesitated for another moment, before reluctantly sliding into her Jūken stance. She focused her Byakugan on the jōnin, desperately searching for some opening, or weakness, or anything that might give her a chance. Then, as she peered through his mask to try and read his face, she saw it. His left eye, hidden under the headband, it was unmistakeable. A Sharingan. She stepped back, her hands trembling. Why did he have a Sharingan?

Kakashi tilted his head slightly. "If you're not going to make the first move, I will." In a single swift motion, almost too fast for her to see, his leg snapped forward. She quickly brought her hands up to block it, and barely caught his shin in time. The blow was enough to push her back a few inches, the heels of her sandals digging into the soft earth, and she winced as her bones creaked under the pressure. Before she could even think of a counterattack, he was gone. She twisted her torso just in time to dodge the fist coming for her head. As his arm sailed past her face, she attempted a strike of her own, but he was gone again, and her fingers stabbed at nothing.

The masked shinobi stood a small distance away, arms hanging loosely at his sides as he stared at her. She held her defensive stance, panting as adrenaline coursed through her. She couldn't even lay a finger on him. Just blocking his attacks was a challenge, her aching palms attested to that. Yes he was a jōnin, but for him to directly face a Hyūga like this, to go hand to hand and still come out ahead, it spoke to just how wide the difference in skill was. And he hadn't even used that Sharingan yet!

Kakashi tilted forward, and she tensed. In the next moment he was upon her, and she struggled to keep up with the rain of blows coming at her. She frantically ducked and blocked his hands and feet, her muscles burning with the effort of matching his pace. A fist came for her face, and she swerved to doge it, right as his shin was shooting up for her side. She brought her hands down to block it, and stumbled back as the blow impacted. He didn't give her a moment to rest, and was immediately on her again.

She had a solid form, the jōnin noted as Hinata desperately struggled block his attacks. Not the best, but clearly she had profited from being the heir of the Hyūga clan. She caught his fist in her hand, wincing under the force of the blow. Quickly, she made to jab her fingers in the jōnin's arm, but he yanked his hand away just before it connected. Still, there was something lacking in her. The way she winced and flinched back when he came at her, that wavering in her Byakugan eyes, it almost screamed weakness. And weakness could be exploited.

He feinted a punch at her face, and her hands rushed to block it. In that moment, far quicker than he'd been up to now, he crouched low and jabbed two fingers into Hinata's hip. She gasped out loud as the chakra punctured her thigh, and her leg buckled. He struck her square in the nose with the heel of his palm, and she went tumbling to the ground. Lying in the dirt, she stared up at him, wide eyed with tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched her aching nose. Kakashi gazed down at her, and dusted off his hands.

"Well," he said, turning toward the treeline. "I guess I should see what Sasuke's up to." And with that, he was gone. She laid there, one hand at her nose and the other at her hip, for a long moment, before the crunching sound of footsteps caught her attention. She turned her head to see Naruto stumbling towards her, one hand at his shoulder. A pang rang through her chest, worse than any physical pain as she saw his arm hanging limply at his side. She struggled into a sitting position, her leg protesting the movement.

"Man, he got you too, huh?" Naruto asked, dropping down next to her. His arm flopped from the sudden motion, and he winced.

"I-I'm sorry about-" Hinata began her voice muffled as she still held her nose.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured her. "It's that bastard's fault, and right now we need to figure out how to pay him back." He made a fist, but then glanced down at his useless arm. "I don't know how I'm gonna beat him with one arm, though."

"H-Here," she said, gingerly releasing her throbbing nose. She held out her hands. "I can fix it."

"You can?" Naruto's face brightened. "That's awesome!" Hinata blushed at the complement as Naruto offered her his wounded shoulder. Activating her Byakugan, she peered beneath his skin and muscle. It didn't take long to see what the problem was, the tenketsu in his shoulder had been sealed. How had Kakashi managed to place Naruto in just the right spot so that she would hit one of his tenketsu? And he had done so in the blink of an eye. The jōnin was no Hyūga, so how could he be so precise?

"Hold still," she instructed gently. Holding his shoulder in place with one hand, she collected chakra in the other. Carefully, she pressed her fingers against the tenketsu and injected the pooled chakra into it. Naruto hissed as her chakra reopened the sealed node, and warmth spread down his arm. He gave the arm a few experimental shakes, and then clenched his fist with a grin.

"Wow, thanks," he said, wriggling his fingers.

"You're welcome," she mumbled bashfully, turning her eyes to her own injured limb. Here as well, she found a sealed tenketsu. He'd hit her with a Jūken strike, somehow managing it even without a Byakugan. He may not have the Byakugan, the realization came, but he _did_ have a Sharingan. At some point he must have watched a Hyūga fight with his Sharingan, and learned how to copy the Jūken! If Father knew that someone using the _Uchiha's_ kekkei genkai had stolen their signature taijutsu, there would be no end to his fury. And if he found out the Sharingan user had managed to defeat his firstborn using the Jūken... God, she might as well turn in her headband right now. She jabbed her finger into the closed tenketsu, a little harder than was necessary, and clenched her jaw as the chakra forcibly opened it. Shakily, she rose to her feet, carefully testing her weight on the leg.

"Alright," Naruto said, standing next to her. "We need to find him quick."

She nodded and activated her Byakugan. Stretching out the nearly perfect sphere of her vision, she began searching through the tangled branches of the surrounding forest. She couldn't see as far as her father, or even her cousin, but her vision still managed to stretch nearly all the way across the training ground. It wasn't long before her scanning caught the familiar lanky form of Kakashi, in a smaller clearing some distance away, facing off against her other teammate.

"There," she pointed to her left into the thick mass of trees. "He's about to attack Sasuke."

"Really?" Naruto questioned, following her finger to the treeline. "Well c'mon! I'm not letting that bastard get a bell before me!" He took off across the field, sprinting for the edge of the woods. Hinata made to follow him, stumbled slightly on her still wobbly leg, but quickly regained her footing. She chased after him, keeping her Byakugan focused on Kakashi as they entered the dense maze of the forest.

000

Whatever his mental state, there was no denying that Sasuke had earned his spot at the top of the graduating class. The traps that had been lying in wait for him were certainly more clever than Naruto's unthinking frontal assault, and his taijutsu put even Hinata's Jūken to shame. When the jōnin heard one of the bells jingle as Sasuke's finger brushed against it, a small thrill had actually gone up his spine. And here he was, thinking that he didn't need to try against these kids. Kakashi stood, facing the Uchiha, waiting to see what his next move would be. Sasuke's hands abruptly began flying through seals: snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, and tiger. Kakashi's eye widened slightly. It couldn't be, he was still just a kid. Yet, as Sasuke brought his hand to his mouth and inhaled deeply, there was no mistaking it.

The Uchiha's signature katon jutsu erupted from Sasuke's mouth, and the enormous fireball flew straight at Kakashi. The Gōkakyū impacted, turning the spot where the jōnin had been standing moments before into a searing inferno. The Uchiha watched as the flames consumed the grass before beginning the die down. The dark plumes of smoke slowly cleared to reveal a dark black streak burned into the earth, and nothing else. Sasuke's eyes widened, and he began looking around wildly. As powerful as those flames might have been, they hadn't burned nearly long enough or hot enough to completely incinerate a human body. So then, where was Kakashi?

"Above me, in the trees?" he asked to himself as he spun around.

"Below you, actually," came a voice from under his feet, and a hand shot out of the ground to grab his ankle. Sasuke yanked his leg to free himself, but the jōnin's grip was far too strong. In a flash, Sasuke was pulled into the earth, swapping places with Kakashi as he was buried up to his neck. The silver-haired shinobi stood over him, brushing a few clumps of dirt off of his flak jacket. Sasuke glared up at him, struggling against the heavy earth pressing in on him from all sides.

"Can't move at all, can you?" Kakashi said, that disinterested expression returning to his face. "It's called Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu, and if you'd managed to get a bell just now, I might've been willing to teach it to you someday." He gave a heavy, theatrical sigh. "But I guess that'll never happen."

"Bastard," Sasuke spat.

"It's been fun, Sasuke," Kakashi said, turning to walk away as he pulled his orange book back out. "I have to admit, you're much better than the other two, but I'd be careful if I were you. You know what they say, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down." And, waving his hand back at the trapped Uchiha, he strolled into the woods.

No sooner had he left, that the sounds of sandals slapping against soft earth met Sasuke's ears. Moments later, Naruto burst into the clearing, with Hinata not far behind.

"Where is he?" the blond demanded, looking around the clearing.

"He already left," Sasuke answered, drawing his teammates' attention.

"Damn!" Naruto swore as he noticed the Uchiha. "What happened to you? He cut your head off or something?"

Sasuke glowered darkly at him.

"He's been buried," Hinata corrected him. She moved to aid Sasuke. "H-Here, let me-"

"Get away from me," he snapped at her, making the Hyūga recoil.

"Hey!" Naruto angrily protested. "Don't talk to her like that! She's just trying to help you, you bastard."

"I don't need her help," Sasuke countered. Directing chakra into his arm, he managed to push the limb out of the earth. With some difficulty, he climbed out of the trap, his legs kicking against the dirt. Sasuke stood, brushing himself off, before glaring in the direction where Kakashi had left.

"You two stay out of my way," he said. "I'm finishing this."

"What, no way!" Naruto argued. "I'm not letting you get a bell before me!"

"As if you even could," Sasuke said with a scoff. "I saw your 'fight' with Kakashi."

"He got lucky!" Naruto said hotly. "Give me five minutes with that mask wearing creep and I'll have him crying for his mama!"

He didn't have five minutes, it turned out, or even one, as the alarm rang out, echoing through the forest.

Naruto's shoulders slumped at the shrill sound. "What, already?"

Sasuke's hands clenched into fists as the ringing bell signaled his lost opportunity. Wasting his time with these two had just cost him his chance at advancement.

Defeated, the three of them reluctantly made their way through the forest, to the clearing where Kakashi stood waiting. They trudged up to the jōnin, who looked down at the three of them, his face impassive behind his mask, and his arms crossed. All three of them kept their heads down as they approached, failure hanging over them like a dark cloud.

"Well," he said. "This went about as well as I expected." In truth, they'd actually exceeded his expectations, if only by a little. "You all fail, of course, but we still need to decide who gets tied to the post. So, how about we go from best to worst?" He scratched his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "Let's see… I'd say the best would be Hinata." Kakashi nodded in the girl's direction as her head snapped up at him, shock written in her pale eyes. "When you saw that your teammate was in trouble, you ran to help him, and stayed by him even when facing a stronger opponent. And you even healed his injury. That's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for today."

"Next would be Sasuke," he continued. "Even though he ran off by himself, he did come the closest out of you three to taking a bell. So good job, I guess."

Sasuke scowled at the insincere approval.

"And so," Kakashi finished, his voice darkening as he turned on Naruto, "that leaves you."

"Eh?" was all Naruto managed to say before he was slammed into the middle post, knocking the air out of his lungs as the alarm clock jingled above him. In the next instant a length of rope wrapped around him, pinning his body to the wooden pole.

"Wait, why me?" Naruto demanded loudly, struggling against his binding.

"Because even though Sasuke ignored his comrades, at least he didn't put them in danger," Kakashi explained, his voice steely.

"What?" Naruto's eyes went wide as he gaped at the jōnin.

"Hinata told you not to attack directly," he elaborated, his single eye boring into the genin. "And you ignored her, forcing her to defend you against a dangerous opponent. Because of your thoughtlessness and stupidity, you managed to get your teammate injured. If this were real combat, she'd be dead, and you'd be just as responsible as the one who cut her throat."

The words hit Naruto like a slap across the cheek. He flinched, and his body went slack in the ropes.

"Now," Kakashi said, turning back to the other two. "Normally, failure like this would get you sent back to the academy, but, in this case, I don't think that's necessary."

Naruto looked up at Kakashi's back, hope brightening his face. "Really, then you mean-?"

"That's right," Kakashi said with a smile. "For punks like you three, I'd say you should quit being shinobi all together."

Naruto's face darkened all over again, while Sasuke glowered at the jōnin.

"B-But-" Hinata began. Hadn't he just praised her?

"Hinata," Kakashi turned on her. "You might've rushed to Naruto's defense, but why? Was it really just because you cared about keeping the team together, or did something else motivate you? Would you have been so brave if it had been Sasuke standing there?"

"Of course she would've!" Naruto hollered, straining against the ropes. "Right Hinata?"

The Hyūga didn't answer. Her eyes fell as shame spread across her face. Kakashi had seen right through her.

"And you, Sasuke," Kakashi continued, giving the Uchiha a hard glare. "You ran off completely on your own, without a thought for your teammates. Is that what I should expect from you? That if you were put on a real mission you'd just leave your comrades to die? If so, you're worthless to Konoha, and you'll never be a shinobi."

Sasuke glared furiously at the jōnin, clenching his fist so tightly that it trembled. Kakashi gazed indifferently at the genin as he bared his teeth. The Uchiha suddenly rushed at Kakashi, cocking his arm back and aiming for the jōnin's placid face. A moment later Sasuke was face first on the ground, with Kakashi burying his knee into the boy's back.

"And this is what makes you a punk," he said, pushing Sasuke's face into the dirt. Kakashi looked up at the other two. "Don't any of you get what this test was about?"

"About?" Naruto asked, kicking his legs. "We were just trying to get the bells!"

Kakashi heaved a great sigh. "No, you idiot. What do you think would've given you a chance to succeed? It's _teamwork._ If all three you had worked together, you might've actually gotten the bells from me."

"But," Hinata began, her eyebrows drawing together, "there's only two."

"Exactly," Kakashi nodded. "The point of this test was to see if you could overcome your personal interest and work together for the sake of the mission. But clearly, you couldn't. The kind of selfishness and incompetence I saw today would get someone killed. For example-" he swiftly yanked Sasuke's head back by his hair and pressed a kunai against the Uchiha's throat. "Hinata! Kill Naruto or I kill Sasuke!"

"W-What?" Hinata's eyes went wide as she took a trembling step back. "I-I-"

"You can't?" Kakashi finished for her. He let go of Sasuke's hair, letting his head drop back down. "In a real mission, your comrades might be taken hostage, and then you'd have to." Standing up, he released Sasuke, who scrambled away from him, glaring darkly at the jōnin. "This is what it means to be a shinobi, and if you can't get that, then you have no business wearing those headbands." He motioned over to the jet black stone standing nearby. "Do you see that monument over there? On it are carved the names of those who truly understood what it meant to be a shinobi of Konohagakure. They are the greatest heroes of this village."

"Wow," Naruto stared, awed, at the memorial. "That's so cool. How can I get my name on there."

Kakashi crossed his arms and stared coldly at him. "It's a monument for those who died in service to Konoha."

The eager expression on Naruto's face quickly slid off and he lowered his head.

Kakashi's gaze turned back to the monument stone. "The name of my closest friend is on that stone," he said, more to himself than anyone.

"Okay," Kakashi tuned back toward them after a moment. "You don't deserve it, but I'm willing to give you one last chance." He stepped over the middle post, and picked up the two bento boxes over Naruto's head. "Here," he handed one to Hinata and the other to Sasuke. "Eat your lunches for now, and in thirty minutes be ready to show me that you have what it takes to be ninja."

"But," he warned. "You are not to give any to Naruto. He's a failure who put his teammate in danger. I wont allow carelessness like that to be rewarded." He glowered down at the two of them. "If I catch you feeding him, then not only will I fail you, I'll make sure that you never get another chance at becoming genin. And as for you Hinata," he turned on the Hyūga. "If you try to help him, not only will I bar you from the shinobi ranks, but I'll personally inform your father about what a disobedient piece of trash he's raised."

Sheer terror clouded Hinata's face, and her eyes turned glassy with tears.

"Amongst shinobi, those who break the rules are considered scum, remember that," Kakashi finished, and vanished in a swirl of dust. Hinata stared at the spot where the jōnin had just disappeared, sniffling as she fought back her tears. Next to her, Sasuke had already opened his bento, and was working on the rice with his chopsticks.

Naruto drooled as he looked down at the Uchiha's meal, and the smell of cooked beef and warm rice reached his nose. Glancing over at Hinata, however quickly put a damper on his appetite. The pale eyed girl sat, bento still unopened as she wiped her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket. He was a failure, he'd put his teammate in danger. Kakashi's words echoed through his skull and he went limp, hanging just above the ground. The image of Hinata, laying flat on her back, her face stained with tears and mud as she clutched her nose floated up in Naruto's mind. Looking back, the jōnin's accusation was impossible to deny. She _had _warned him, he _had _ignored that warning, and charged in like an idiot. He'd fallen in a single blow, and spent the rest of the fight laying about moaning over his arm while she stood and faced a far superior opponent to save his sorry hide.

"I'm sorry, Hinata" he said miserably, his head low.

"W-Why?" Hinata asked, drying her eyes as the looked up at her crush.

"For getting you hurt," he said, eyes still downcast. "You were right, it was stupid to fight him like that."

Hinata simply lowered her head and gave a small nod. What was she supposed to say? Why did he even think he needed to apologize to her? It was nothing other than her own weakness and incompetence that allowed her to be beaten by her own technique. She stared down at the bento box. It was that same weakness that was now preventing her from helping Naruto when he clearly needed it. Letting him go hungry was clearly cruel, and if she had any courage at all she'd start feeding him right now. But, god, the thought of Kakashi storming into the clan compound and telling Father how she was a failure, that she would never be a kunoichi, it made her blood run cold. Already she could picture her father's eyes, looking so much like those she saw in her own reflection but somehow much harder and colder, staring down at her as her failure was revealed before the whole Hyūga clan. It was too much to bear, and so she sat, leaving the bento untouched. If she couldn't feed Naruto, then at least she could share in his suffering.

Sasuke watched the brief exchange, his chopsticks hovering over the partially eaten rice. He glanced at Hinata, then down at his bento. Unbidden, an image of a dark pair of eyes, set in a square, solid face and staring coldly down at him floated up in his head. The way the Hyūga had frozen up when Kakashi mentioned her father, it seemed that she was in the same boat he had been before- Sasuke shook his head and looked around the clearing. Why would the jōnin go so far to keep her from helping Naruto? Hadn't he just been going on about teamwork? So then why force them to leave their teammate to starve? He gazed up at Naruto, staring defeated at the dirt. _Don't any of you get what this test was about? _Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a breath through his nose. So that was it.

"Hinata," he said, catching the girl's attention. "Go ahead and feed Naruto."

"But," she said glancing nervously at her crush. "He said-"

"He said that we need to work as a team," Sasuke cut her off. "And then told us not to help Naruto. Don't you get it?" He turned his eyes on Naruto. "It's another test."

"Really?" asked Naruto. "You sure?"

"Yeah." Actually, Sasuke gave it fifty-fifty odds that this would mean the end of his shinobi career, but at least this way he would go down spitting in that bastard's eye. "Now hurry up, before he gets back."

Hinata nodded wordlessly, and quickly pulled the lid off the bento box. She stood, carrying the lunch up to Naruto as she grabbed a piece of meat with the chopsticks. She brought it up to Naruto, who held his mouth open, but then paused as her face turned scarlet. The chopsticks trembled in her fingers as the realization of what she was about to do struck her like an arrow.

"Hinata?" Naruto questioned, tilting his head at her hesitation.

"I-," she stammered. "It's just-"

"Damn it, I'll do it then," Sasuke said, snatching the box out her hand. Grabbing her chopsticks, he brought the chunk of beef up to Naruto's mouth. "Open," he ordered.

Naruto shot him a glare, but complied. Sasuke mentally recoiled at the sight of Naruto's open maw. Combined with his whisker marks, he looked like some ugly slobbering animal. Pushing away his disgust, the Uchiha quickly deposited the piece of meat on Naruto's tongue and picked up another.

The beef was a little dry, and the rice clearly hadn't been fully cooked. All in all, Kakashi wasn't half the cook that Teuchi was, but after nearly a full day without anything in his stomach it hardly mattered. Naruto gulped down the modest meal with gusto. His hunger sated, or at least eased, he tilted his head back and gave a satisfied sigh.

Suddenly, there came a plume of smoke behind Sasuke and Hinata. They whirled around to find Kakashi staring down at them, his single gray eye like a piece of flint.

"I told you not to feed Naruto," his voice a menacing whisper as he stalked up to them. Hinata stumbled backwards, eyes wide while Sasuke tensed, his jaw clenched. "You disobeyed my explicit instructions. I hope you're ready for the consequences. You-" he began, voice rising as he towered over them. They braced themselves.

"-pass." Kakashi finished with a smile, his voice abruptly returning to normal.

"Eh?" came Naruto's confused response.

"You pass," Kakashi repeated. "Like I said, the whole point of this test was teamwork, and the three of you just showed me that you do understand the meaning of that word." He chuckled warmly. "You know, you're the first team I've ever tested that was able figure that out. None of them could see underneath the underneath."

He glanced back at the stone monument. "Amongst shinobi, those who break the rules are considered scum, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Kakashi turned to face the three of them, his smile big enough to be seen under the mask. "I consider all three of you worthy of the title of genin, and I'm proud to call you my students."

Naruto was beaming by this point, his legs kicking joyfully in the air. Hinata managed a small smile, and even Sasuke looked happy.

"Alright," Kakashi said, turning to the small path that lead back to the rest of Konoha. "Come with me and I'll show you where our daily meeting spot will be."

With a satisfied smirk, Sasuke followed after the jōnin. Hinata also took a couple of steps after him, but then paused as she turned back to look at Naruto.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei?" she called to the masked shinobi. "I think you-"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted over her. "You forgot to untie me! Hey, Kakashi-sensei? Kakashi-sensei!" He thrashed wildly against the ropes. "Get back here and untie me! _Kakashi-sensei!_"

* * *

And we're done with the Introduction Arc. Truth be told, these first five chapters were a bit of a slog, because it didn't feel like there was much room to move around. The Bell Test in particular I was dreading, since there's just not a whole lot you can to with it. Well, at least it's over with now, and I'm free to spread my creative wings and- Wait what's the next arc again? The Wave Mission? Oh. _Oh._


	6. Chapter 6

Dark, heavy clouds filled the sky over Konoha that day. A strong overnight wind from the coast had buffeted them across the country, leaving them to hang over the village. The air was heavy and damp with the threat of a downpour, but for now it hadn't come. This gray ceiling blocked the sun's rays, robbing the village of yesterday's warmth. But for Naruto, sprinting through this dreariness with a broad grin on his face, it made no difference at all. He was officially a shinobi, no more tests, no more having to prove his worthiness. Six years of effort had finally payed off. A woman was passing by on the other side of the street, and he shot her a smile. She didn't return the smile, her face souring as soon as she saw him. Naruto brushed it off as he continued down to Team Seven's meeting spot. He wouldn't let anything get to him, not today. Today he was going to kick some ass.

To top everything off, he'd once again gone without any strange dreams. He'd been lying in bed, replaying the Bell Test in his head, and then the alarm was ringing to signal the morning. It might've seemed a little strange that he wasn't dreaming at all now, but if that was the price for freedom from those bizarre nightmares, he'd gladly pay it.

It wasn't until the shinobi academy came into view that his expression dimmed slightly. Somewhere in the back of his mind, it had seemed like he'd seen the last of this place. Of course, since this building also served as the Hokage's office, and the where shinobi received their missions, that thought made no sense. Yet, that dome face, looming ahead of him like it always had, appeared almost to be smirking at him. "Don't think you've gotten anywhere," it seemed to say. "You might have a headband now, but you're still stuck with me."

At the fence surrounding the academy, his two teammates stood waiting. Sasuke was leaned against the fence, his arms crossed, while Hinata stood by him, her eyes to the ground as usual. Naruto skidded to a halt right as he reached them, his sandals kicking up dirt from the pavement. Hinata jumped back slightly as he nearly collided with her.

"Ah, G-Good morning," she stuttered, avoiding his gaze.

"Mornin'!" he returned cheerfully. He stretched his arms out wide and inhaled deeply. "Wow, another great day."

Sasuke shot him glare. "No it isn't."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha. "What's your problem?" he asked, frowning.

Unlike Naruto and Hinata, who both wore their jackets, Sasuke had only worn the usual Uchiha attire of a short sleeved shirt and shorts. It wasn't until after he'd stepped outside that the folly of that decision became clear.

"Nothing, just shut up," Sasuke crossed his arms tightly across his chest, fighting against the urge to shiver in the nippy air. Unfortunately, Naruto seemed to catch on to what his problem was pretty quickly.

"Aw, is it too cold for you?" Mock concern filled Naruto's voice.

"I said _shut up_," Sasuke hissed a warning at his teammate. Naruto didn't seem phased by it.

"I could run home and get you my spare jacket if you want," he offered, a teasing grin on his face.

"Who'd ever want to wear one of your ugly jackets?" Sasuke buried his chin in his high collar.

"But it'd warm you up-"

"So would pounding in your skull," the Uchiha snarled. Naruto let loose a chuckle as he put his arms behind his head. Why had he ever been afraid of this guy? Just look at him, standing there huddled up with that look on his face. Sasuke was just a rude jerk and nothing more.

Sasuke glowered at the blond as the cold finally got a shiver out of him. Kakashi had better not take too long.

He didn't, though nearly an hour passed before the silver-haired jōnin came rounding a corner into view. By then Sasuke had started pacing around, arms still crossed as he fought against the cold. Every now and then he'd catch Naruto's gaze, and the blond would shoot him a smirk. By the time their sensei showed up, it was taking quite a bit of the Uchiha's willpower to stop himself form kicking Naruto in the teeth.

"Yo!" Kakashi waved at his students. "Sorry, I got lost."

"Lost?" Naruto repeated. "You're the one who showed us this spot! And we're right in front of the academy too! That doesn't-"

"Sasuke," Kakashi cut him off. "Are you sure those clothes are warm enough for this weather? I mean, what if it starts raining? It'd be pretty embarrassing if you caught pneumonia and died on your very first mission after all."

Sasuke didn't answer, shooting a glare at his sensei.

"Well," Kakashi said after a moment, giving a small one shouldered shrug. "I guess we'd better see what Hokage-sama has for us today." With a small beckoning wave, he led his charges toward the academy.

The academy's interior was quite a bit warmer than the outside, and though he didn't show it, a small wave of relief went through Sasuke as they stepped inside. Naruto trudged a few steps behind him, all of his earlier cheer dulled by his surroundings. This path to the Hokage's office was one Naruto had walked countless times before, and almost every step of it was ingrained in his mind. That little crack in the floorboards right at this corner, the way the paint changed to a slightly different shade of white down this hallway, that little black mark in the wood paneling on the lower half of the wall. It all met him exactly as it had always been. Naruto couldn't shake the foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach as the Hokage's door came into view. Walking this particular path had almost always meant that he was in trouble for something, and as they approached the Old Man's office something in the back of his mind asked, "Uh oh, what are in for this time?"

The door guard, upon seeing their approach, promptly rapped his knuckles twice against the heavy wooden door. "Hokage-sama, Hatake Kakashi is here with his students."

"Send them in," came the reply. The guard swung the door open for the three of them, giving them a curt nod as they passed the threshold.

"So Kakashi," the Hokage said, smiling up at the younger man. "I managed to get you after all."

"I guess so, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied with a small bow, his face as blank as his mask. Sarutobi looked behind him at his new team. After everything that had happened in the masked shinobi's life, this was exactly the sort of thing Kakashi needed. No more ANBU, no more war, just the reprieve of being away from the front lines teaching genin. The Hokage's eyes landed on Naruto, and his smile widened into almost a grin. To see that boy standing there, on a shinobi team with that headband on his brow, it made the last twelve years completely worth it. If only Minato and Kushina were here to see this.

"I suppose you're here for your first mission, then," Sarutobi said, shaking off that last wistful thought.

"Hell yeah we are!" Naruto piped up as he pumped his fist into the air. "And don't give us some do nothing crap job neither, I want a good one!"

Kakashi buried his fist in the top of the blond's head. "Calm down, Naruto."

"A good one eh?" Sarutobi answered with a gleam in his eye. He pulled open a small scroll with the letter D printed on it. His finger trailed down the gardening and trash collecting missions, until he paused on one near the bottom. A small smirk tugged at his lips. "Well, Naruto since you asked so nicely, I believe I do have a special mission for you and your team."

"Really?" Naruto gazed hopefully up at the Hokage, rubbing his aching skull. "What is it? Are we gonna sneak into an enemy village? Catch a rouge ninja? Huh, huh?"

"Not quite."

000

"Curse that Old Man's bones!" Naruto pounded his fist against the wooden table, hard enough to make the book laying upon it jump slightly. A man with gray hair that terminated well before the crown of his skull rounded a bookshelf and shot him a glare.

"Be quiet," he hissed. "People are trying to read in here."

Naruto gave the balding man a sour look, before sighing and turning back to the thick tome spread before him. Of all the missions the Hokage could have pick for them, what did he choose? Gardening? Trash collecting? Farm work? No, they were stuck in the Konoha Public Library, organizing books. Naruto squinted down at miniscule ink strokes that had been squeezed onto the page. The cover of this particular book read "The History of Mathematics, Volume II," and its contents offered exactly the sort of pulse-pounding excitement one would expect from such a title.

Naruto quickly copied the name onto the top of an index card, and beneath that he scrawled "boring math stuff" before moving on to the next one. The genin gave a small groan a soon as he saw the title, "The History of Mathematics, Volume III." How could someone care so much about where geometry came from or why numbers looked they way they do? Who ever it was, they probably radiated toxic levels of boredom. Certainly these books contained a near fatal dose.

Kakashi strolled past Naruto, his nose buried in his own book, to where Sasuke and Hinata sat across at another table. The pair worked in utter silence, neither of them so much as glancing at the other.

Sasuke flipped through a book titled "The Ninjutsu of the Nidaime Hokage" describing all the various jutsu invented by the famed Senju. Usually the Uchiha preferred practical demonstrations of jutsu, simply reading about them was more up Sakura's alley, but in this case the sheer breadth of the jutsu was enough to keep him reading well past what the task required. The Senju had invented a jutsu that allowed one to teleport instantaneously, a whole page's worth of Suiton ninjutsu, and even one that could bring people back from the dead. Of course, this being only the civilian library, there were no details or instructions on how to perform the resurrection jutsu. There wasn't even a name.

Still, just that brief, one sentence mention of it was enough to lock Sasuke's eyes to the page. It couldn't be that simple, could it? Just a few hand seals, some chakra, and a person could live again? How many people could be brought back with this jutsu? Could he even-? He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. No, it was too good to be true, it had to be. The book referred to it as kinjutsu, which meant there had to be some catch. Controlling life and death like that, bringing back people with a snap of the fingers, no human being could ever have access to that kind of power. Undoing what had happened, and simply having everything return to the way it had been, that was nothing more than a childish fantasy, no matter what this old Senju might have thought up.

Sasuke's eyes drifted down the page until they caught another familiar name, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He gave a sidelong glance to his blond teammate, glaring sullenly into the pages of another text one table over. This was the jutsu that Naruto used in his fight against Kakashi yesterday. Naruto struggled even with normal bunshin, so to see the idiot summon multiple solid clones had been almost enough to make the Uchiha gape in shock. Now that he thought about it, however, that hadn't even been the first time Naruto had used the jutsu. On the day of the genin exam the blond had burst into the room with a clone by his side. Iruka had called it a prank then, and most everyone had just assumed that he'd bribed someone to to use the henge jutsu, but apparently not. That, at least, explained how he'd passed, but it didn't explain how a failure like Naruto was able to use one of the Nidaime's jutsu. Didn't the Kage bunshin technique put an enormous strain on a person's chakra reserves, far beyond what anyone their age should be capable of supporting? Then how was Naruto able to do it so easily? Where was all that chakra coming from?

The corner of Sasuke's lip pulled back in a sneer. It didn't matter. So the failure had a trick up his sleeve, it wouldn't change anything. The fact that he still lost miserably to Kakashi was proof of that.

The balding librarian came over to their desk, carrying a stack of books in his arms. He dropped them down and they landed with a soft thud, giving off a small cloud of dust.

"Here," he said, his voice low. "Just found these tucked away in the back."

Sasuke picked up one of the orange, soft covered books and stared at it with a raised eyebrow. On the cover was an illustration of a man chasing after an almost ridiculously buxom woman. His eyes flicked up to the title. "Icha Icha Paradise?"

"I'll do these ones," Kakashi said, suddenly behind him. The jōnin snatched the book out of Sasuke's hand, and quickly picked up the stack before rushing off to his own private corner. However, in his hurry, the lecher left behind a single book. It was somewhat smaller than the others and its plain hardcover lacked any voluptuous women. On its face it bore the title, printed simply in black ink, "The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi." Sasuke picked the unassuming book up off the table and turned it over to the spine which also bore the title.

Clearly this had been put with those other books by mistake, but then, what exactly was it? That title sounded like it might be a children's story, but it seemed too small for that and no colorful cartoon characters smiled up at him from the cover. He opened the book, the spine creaking as if this was the first time anyone had done so, and met a blank page. Flicking past it, he found the table of contents listing the chapters in the story. He was immediately drawn to the first one, which was titled "Musasbi Naruto." _Naruto? _His eyes flicked over to his teammate, still grinding his way through a stack of dry academic tomes. Naruto had always been something of a strange name for a person, considering that it was clearly based on narutomaki, a type of fish cake. Until now, it had always seemed as if his fellow orphan had simply named himself that while eating a bowl of ramen, but perhaps that wasn't the case after all.

"Hey, Naruto," Sasuke gave a hushed call to his teammate. "Come here a second."

Grateful for any excuse to get away from these accursed books, Naruto pushed his chair back and stood.

"What?" he asked, striding over and putting his hands on the table. Beside him, Hinata glanced curiously as she waited to see where this was going.

"You ever read this book before?" Sasuke showed him the cover.

"'The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi?''" Naruto's eyes slid across the title. "Nope, only books I ever read were academy textbooks. Whatcha askin' for?"

"Look at this," Sasuke flipped the book open back to the table of contents. He tapped his finger against the first chapter.

Naruto squinted at the text. "Musasbi Na- Hey, that's my name!" He said a little too loudly, earning an angry "S_hh!" _from the librarian. Hey waved the elderly man off and added in a lower voice, "What's my name doing in this book?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"Do you know who wrote it?" Hinata joined the conversation. They both turned their heads to look at her, and a blush began to color her cheeks. Sasuke glanced back down at the book. There was no author given on the front cover, nor in the opening pages. He flicked past the table of contents, only to find that it immediately went to the text of the story. As a final effort, he flipped the book over and pulled open the back cover. There, on the inside sleeve, was a face any in Konoha would recognize, and just in case he began to think there was some kind of mistake, a name was printed right below the picture.

"Jiraiya," Sasuke said out loud. Hinata's eyes widened at the name, but Naruto simply tilted his head.

"Uh, who's that?" he asked.

"Didn't you ever pay attention in class?" Sasuke said by way of an answer. "He's one of the Legendary Sannin, a student of the Sandaime." And, it appeared, an author as well.

"Wait so since this guy put my name in his book, does that mean he knows about me?" Naruto went starry-eyed at the thought. "Oh wow, one of the Sannin already knows my name, and he thinks I'm so cool he's writing books about me."

"Pfft," Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's delusions of grandeur. "Don't get your hopes up, it's just a coincidence."

"You don't know that," Naruto countered. "Who says this guy hasn't heard about me? I'm already on my way to being Hokage, so it makes sense that I'd start picking up fans." He crossed his arms and nodded.

"Fine, whatever you say," Sasuke gave up his attempt to bring his teammate back to reality. The depths of Naruto's warped psyche was a place best avoided.

"Anyway," Naruto said, grabbing the book from Sasuke. With a quick glance around to ensure no one was looking, he pulled down the zipper on his jacket and slid the book into one of its internal pockets. "I'm keeping this."

"Get back to work," Kakashi called to Naruto, hunched over at the end of a table still completely engrossed in his own "work."

Naruto jumped at his sensei's voice, and scurried off back to his table.

000

The sun was making its way down the western half of the sky, still unable to burn off the thick cloud cover. Though it was only a little past four, it already seemed as if night had fallen on the village. Their mission complete, and their report delivered to the Hokage, Kakashi had led Team Seven to a training field. It wasn't anything like the sweeping grounds they'd been tested in yesterday, but if the well worn training dummies were any indication, it still saw its fair share of use.

"So what're we gonna do?" Naruto bounced eagerly on the balls of his feet, finally free of that wretched library. "You gonna teach us some new kickass jutsu, huh, huh?"

"I was thinking we'd get some sparring in," Kakashi answered.

"That's all?" Naruto's face fell, and he scuffed his sandal against the dirt. "We already did that at the academy."

"It's important," Kakashi admonished. "Now then, let's have you against Hinata, and I'll take Sasuke."

The jōnin led the Uchiha a short distance away, both of them taking up the familiar beginning pose taught in the academy's taijutsu class. Kakashi hardly seemed any more enthusiastic than Naruto about this session of genin level taijutsu, but Sasuke's face had stiffened at the prospect of another round against the man who'd humiliated him yesterday.

"Aw man, I wanted to pound on Sasuke," he shrugged, before turning to face Hinata. A grin spread across his face. "Okay, let's see what you got."

Hinata blushed as Naruto took up his sloppy opening stance. She slid into her own Jūken pose.

"You know," Naruto said as they squared off. "I don't think I ever sparred with you before."

Hinata shook her head. "I-I never took taijutsu training with the rest of our class."

"Really? How come?"

Because the Hyūga would never allow one of their clan, a member of the main family and the heiress, to be polluted by the standard academy kata. That was the answer any other of Hinata's clan would give, but all she said was "I learned from my father."

"Cool," replied Naruto. He inched toward her. "Let's see if he knows his stuff."

With that, he hurled a kick at Hinata's side. She blocked it, taking a step back. Still grinning he tried again with a punch to the face, but she blocked that too. He swung another kick at her, and again she blocked it. He threw another punch, and she ducked out of its way. She put some distance between them, holding her defensive stance as she braced herself for his next assault. She didn't have to wait long, Naruto rushed at her one more, redoubling his efforts. Naruto went at it with with everything he had, pushing himself far past what was appropriate for a simple sparring match. Still, he wasn't anywhere near as fast as Kakashi had been, and his blows lacked the same overwhelming force, though her palms still stung. He swung a wide punch at her, and she caught his fist in her palm. Caught off guard, Naruto flinched in anticipation of the return strike, but Hinata simply pushed him away.

The boy frowned. "How come you're not hitting back?"

Hinata's eyes widened at the question, and she gave no response.

"And how come you're not using that eye-thingy?" Naruto continued his questioning. His frowned deepened. "What, you think you need to take it easy on me or something?"

"N-No!" Hinata quickly denied. "I just- I mean we're only sparring."

"So?" Naruto countered. "I wanna see what you can do. Everyone always talks about how great the Hyūga's Byaku-whatever is, so I wanna see it for myself."

Hinata's eyes glanced over at Kakashi, who had his back to them as he effortlessly blocked a kick from Sasuke. "I-I don't know..."

"C'mon, please?" Naruto pleaded. "This is no fun if you're not gonna try."

Hinata hesitated for a second longer, before taking a deep breath. Focusing her chakra into her eyes, she felt the veins around her temples bulge as her vision widened to an almost perfect sphere around her, save for a blind spot situated right where her neck met her back The flesh, bone, and finally chakra network of Naruto came into clear view, along with those of Sasuke and Kakashi to her side. She wasn't actually about to close his tenketsu, the sound of his wailing from yesterday still echoed in her mind, but perhaps if he got a quick demonstration of the Jūkenpō he'd be satisfied.

Naruto's confident grin returned as he readied himself. "That's more like it." He charged at her again, unleashing a torrent of strikes, even fiercer than before.

There wasn't much rhyme or reason to his attacks, in fact it almost seemed as if he had no taijutsu training at all, but the sheer intensity of the assault was enough to put Hinata on her back foot. Once again she was caught in a cycle of blocking and dodging, and no opening seemed to present itself for a counterattack.

"Come on," Naruto urged, swinging punch after punch at her. "Stop just blocking already and hit me!" He launched a hard blow at her, and she just barely caught it.

How was she supposed to do that? Even if he wasn't as strong or as fast as Kakashi, he still outclassed her in both areas, so how- _There._ He'd pulled back his arm farther than before, winding up to attempt to break her guard, but that precious extra moment gave her a chance to counter. Right as he let loose with the punch, Hinata grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards her. He stumbled forward, off balance, and she leaned in for her own strike. Two fingers jabbed straight into Naruto's chest, right over his heart. His eyes shot open in surprise, and then a single brow raised. She released his arm, and he stepped back.

"A finger poke?" he asked quizzically, rubbing the spot where her fingers had been buried a second before. "What kinda hit is that? I mean, I've gotten bee stings worse than that."

"It was a Jūken strike," Kakashi explained. He stood beside Sasuke, both of them watching the end of their sparring session. "Don't you remember what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday?" Naruto squinted his eyes shut as he thought back. "Oh yeah, that thing with my arm. But that hurt a whole lot worse than this."

"That's because she didn't put any chakra into the strike," he said, his lone eye falling on the Hyūga. "If she had, you'd be dead right now."

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he whirled on the Hyūga. "Wow really? You mean you can kill people just by poking them? Holy crap, that's like the coolest thing I ever heard!"

Hinata couldn't keep her eyes off the ground, her cheeks a bright scarlet as Naruto's praise washed over her. "E-Every one of the Hyūga can do it."

"Man," said Naruto, envy filling his voice. "You're so lucky, I wish I could do that."

"Lucky" had never been a word Hinata used to describe herself. Yes, she had the Byakugan, but her skill with the dōjutsu was disgraceful when compared with any other Hyūga genin. Compared with her father and her cousin, she might as well have been blind. Even her status as the firstborn of the head of one of the most prestigious clans in the Five Great Nations seemed only to bring further burdens. So, for someone, Naruto of all people, to be jealous of her? There had to be a punchline coming soon.

A single drop of rain fell into Kakashi's silver hair, and he tilted his head up at the charcoal sky. "I think we're done for today. Sasuke, Hinata, you two are dismissed. Naruto, I need to talk with you for a bit."

Both of Naruto's teammates glanced curiously at him, but with no other information forthcoming the two of them trudged off. Kakashi kept his single eye on Naruto as the Hyūga and the Uchiha went out of earshot.

"So," he finally said. "How have you been sleeping?"

Naruto scratched at his neck. What kind of a question was that? "Um, fine I guess."

"No strange dreams or anything like that?" Kakashi pressed.

"Strange-? _Oh_." Naruto caught on to what his sensei was getting at. "Did the Old Man tell you about-?"

"Yes," Kakashi nodded. All of the slack had gone out of his voice. He almost sounded like an actual shinobi. "He also said that you'd report anything unusual."

"Oh yeah," Naruto grinned up at the jōnin. "You don't gotta worry about that, cause there's nothing to report."

"Nothing?" Kakashi wasn't about to let him go that easily. "Are you sure?"

"Yup!" Naruto kept up his cheerful smile. "Last two nights were totally normal. No weird dreams or anything like that."

"Hm," Kakashi's eye examined the boy's face. Well, it didn't look like he was lying. Another few drops of rain landed on his head. "Alright then, see you tomorrow." He waved Naruto off, the usual air of indifference returning to him.

"See ya!" Naruto waved to his sensei, sprinting off towards the road. The rain was coming down in earnest now, but he wasn't about to head home just yet. Not while Ichiraku was still open.

000

After waiting the whole day, the dark sky had finally opened up, and rain poured down upon Konoha in a steady shower. The usual night wanderers of the village had fled for the safety and warmth of indoors. The streets were even emptier than was to be expected for the still young night, barren save for a lone figure stalking through the downpour. Sasuke wore nothing more than he had that morning as he made his way through the empty streets of the village. When the sun set and things became quiet like this, Sasuke usually found himself wandering aimlessly through the streets. With the rain, had come the brief consideration of wearing something warmer, but all it took to dispel it was the image of Naruto's teasing smirk that morning. Sheer defiance had sent him out into the frigid night wearing the same shirt and shorts as always.

The temperature was even lower than it had been that morning, and goosebumps erupted all along his arms, but Sasuke paid it no mind. The cold was nothing, the water soaking through his clothes was nothing. Besides, being out here, doing something other than sitting in his empty apartment, was one of the few pleasures in his life, rain or no rain. Even though he technically lived outside the Uchiha district, his single room apartment was still close enough that he could look right into it from his window. Every night he did so, and every night, once the pink light of dusk had fully disappeared over the horizon, the district never failed to look exactly as it had _that _night.

Sasuke's eyes would flick ever more frantically over the barren roads, snapping to every shape and shadow as if he was about to find a body laying out there. Tonight, with the rain obscuring his view, had only served to make things worse. There had been no way to get a clear look, to show his panicking imagination that nothing was there. For a moment, staring out of that rain obscured window, he'd been sure, completely sure that if he'd gone out there he would find the pale, wet corpses of his clan mates. And so here he was, desperately trying to rid himself of that unbearable thought. He wasn't running away, he told himself, because he always came back.

The rain drenched Uchiha turned onto a road that, even in the dark, was easily recognizable as the one he'd taken to the Third Training Ground the day before. The heavy frown on Sasuke's face deepened. Today's match with Kakashi hadn't gone any better than yesterday. Even though it was just a sparring session, Sasuke had put everything he had into trying to land a blow on the jōnin. He might as well have not even bothered. Kakashi blocked and dodged every single blow with that same bored, almost sleepy look on his face. Sasuke's hand clenched into a fist as his pace increased. The bastard didn't even try to hit back, he just went through the motions as if the whole thing was a waste of time.

It had been exactly the same yesterday. Kakashi danced just one step ahead of him, and then left him humiliated. Pulling him underground like that, taunting him, the message had been clear. "Don't think you're anything special, you're just another stupid kid like the other two." Rain soaked through Sasuke's hair, streaming down his face, but he didn't bother to wipe it away. Itachi could kill someone like Kakashi in heartbeat. That masked clown would be dead before he could even blink. Yet Kakashi wouldn't even take him seriously. What had he been doing for the last six years? Top of his class, rookie of the year, and he still was nowhere near his goal. Hadn't he advanced at all?

No, of course he hadn't, he didn't even have the Sharingan.

_Man, you're so lucky. _Naruto, for once, was spot on. Of course the Hyūga was lucky. Everyone of her clan was born with their dōjutsu. Most of them were peering though walls before they could even walk. Yet here he was, almost thirteen years old, and nothing to show for it. Only a fraction of the Uchiha ever activated their clan's dōjutsu, according to what he'd heard growing up. The horrifying possibility was now staring him in the face that he wouldn't be one of those few.

"_Face me when you have the same eyes that I do._"

How was he supposed to do that when the Sharingan still eluded him? By the time Itachi was his age he'd already completely mastered the dōjutsu. Since then, the great prodigy of their clan had gained the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan. With Sasuke's eye still lacking any power of their own, what was he supposed to do against that legendary dōjutsu? He'd be dead before any fight began.

Sasuke's lips pulled back, exposing his teeth. It wasn't like he had a choice. That murder, that _traitor _was running around free while the Uchiha were rotting in the ground. His father, his mother, his clan demanded vengeance, Sharingan or no Sharingan.

The road came to end at the dirt trail leading into the training ground. There was really no reason to head down it, and considering the weather it would have been better to turn around and go home. Sasuke's legs seemed to disagree, however, and led him down the path cleaved through the woods. The rain had already seeped through the branches of the trees, and so they provided no relief as he made his way down to the training grounds. What exactly would he do once he got there? Visit the memorial stone? He'd gone on this walk to get away from the dead, looking over the names of slain shinobi wasn't exactly keeping with that purpose. Still he continued onward, the dark, soaked branches arching overhead.

At last, he came to the small clearing that opened up just before the training ground, and caught a glimpse of a familiar orange figure. Standing under a tree in a vain attempt to keep dry, Naruto spun towards him with a hopeful look on his face. As soon as he saw who it was strolling into the clearing, however, his face quickly soured.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The blond genin asked, spitting out the word "you" like a piece of rotten fruit.

Sasuke crossed his arms. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Me? I'm not doing anything," Naruto quickly denied. "Now hurry up and get lost."

"Why don't you go?" Sasuke shot back. Normally he would have already left the moment he ran into someone else, but the thought of turning around and leaving just because Naruto told him to was somehow intolerable. The Uchiha planted his feet and crossed his arms.

"I was here first," Naruto glared equally as stubbornly at his teammate.

"Do I look like I care?" Sasuke stared unflinchingly back into Naruto's eyes. At this point it seemed as if a fight between the two of them was inevitable, which was just fine with Sasuke. It would be nice to have a chance to get back at him for this morning. Just as he was about to challenge Naruto, however, the other boy broke off the staring match and rubbed his wet face with his hands.

"Look," he said. "I don't have time for this crap right now. I'm supposed to come here by myself, and if you're here you're gonna ruin it."

"Ruin what?" What could Naruto be doing out here in the middle of the woods after dark? And who had told him that he needed to come out here alone?

"Nothing," Naruto said quickly as he realized his slip up. He waved his hands at Sasuke in a shooing motion. "Just go away, _please._"

What Naruto got up to on his own time shouldn't have been any of his concern, but something about this whole situation sent off alarms in Sasuke's head. Why would someone ask him to come out here in the middle of the night? No, this didn't seem right at all.

"Not until you tell me what's going on," the Uchiha said, staring down his teammate.

"It's none of your business," Naruto raised his voice. "What are you, my mom?"

"Why are-" a chill suddenly went up Sasuke's back that had nothing to do with the weather. He spun around, facing the treeline.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked at Sasuke. "What're you-?"

"Who's there?" Sasuke called into the woods. A moment passed, before the branches of one of the trees rustled, and a man wearing a chūnin's flak jacket dropped to the ground.

"Didn't I tell you to come here alone?" Mizuki asked as he rose. The instructor walked up to two of them, keeping his eyes locked on Naruto.

"I know, Mizuki-sensei, but this bastard just showed up and he wont go away," Naruto pointed accusingly at Sasuke. "It's his fault, not mine."

"I see," Mizuki glanced coldly in the Uchiha's direction. "Well then, you'd better get out of here."

Sasuke didn't comply. Something in the way Mizuki was looking at Naruto made him pause. Like a wolf staring at an injured rabbit. He'd never seen a look like that in the chūnin's eyes before. He shook his head. "No."

Mizuki's head snapped in his direction, that barely contained hatred in his eyes turned on him. "What did you say?"

"I'm not leaving," Sasuke stood his ground. That alarm in his head was practically screaming at him now. "Not until you explain why you made Naruto come out here like this."

Mizuki's hands clenched into fists as his already dark expression hardened. Then, a wide grin stretched across his face.

"Alright," he said, his voice light. "You want to know? How about I show you?" Sasuke hardly had time to see the blow coming, much less shout a warning to Naruto. Before either of them could do anything, Mizuki's kunai buried itself in the meat of Naruto's arm, deep enough to scrape bone. The blond gasped, to shocked to even scream as he stared down at the blade sticking out of his bicep.

Mizuki turned his eyes back to Sasuke, maniac glee shining in them. "You know, I only came here for Naruto. I'm going to take my time with him, so if you run now you might get to safety before I'm done." Behind him, Naruto dropped to his knees, trembling as the pain finally hit him.

Sasuke was already in a defensive stance, his eyes hard. Mizuki laughed at the display.

"That's pretty brave of you," he said. "Throwing your life away to save this little fucker. I guess you really are a Konoha shinobi." The chūnin tore the headband from his own head and tossed it into the dirt. "Though, if you knew just what that little demon really was maybe you'd think twice about it."

Sasuke said nothing, readying himself for the chūnin's attack.

"Aren't you curious about him?" Mizuki questioned, that grin still on his face. "I mean, a boy just appears out of nowhere one day, with no parents, and nobody knows who he is? Why do you think that might be?"

The Uchiha took a step back, his eyes flicked briefly to where Naruto knelt, blood dripping down his jacket sleeve as he stared wide eyed at the two of them.

"I'll give you a hint," the chūnin said, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Do you know the day he was born?"

"Shut up," Sasuke commanded. What did Mizuki think he was playing at?

"It was twelve years ago, on October tenth," Mizuki continued, taking a step toward the genin. "I'm sure you know what else happened on that day, right?"

Of course he knew, everyone did. That was the day the Kyūbi nearly destroyed Konoha, but what did that have to do with Naruto? Sasuke took another step back, glancing once more at his injured teammate. He met Naruto's eyes, staring terrified at him.

"What are you saying?" the Uchiha asked warily.

Mizuki tilted his head back and let loose a mad, cackling laugh. "I'm saying that the Yondaime never killed the Kyūbi, he only sealed it. I'm saying that it still lives, and it's been hiding among us for twelve years. I'm saying," he pointed back at Naruto, his grin turning to a snarl. "that _he_ is the demon fox reborn!"


	7. Chapter 7

Sasuke stared, silent, at the maniac chūnin, while Naruto gaped up at him, gripping his arm with the blade of the kunai sticking up between his ring and middle finger.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Mizuki's eyes were wild. It shouldn't have mattered now, but now that he had said it out loud, he needed to say more. Everyone pretended that the demon was just a normal boy, refusing to acknowledge the insanity of the situation. No one would even discuss it. Someone, even if it was just this kid, had to see that creature for what it really was.

"Can't you see those whisker marks on his cheeks?" he ranted, stalking up to Sasuke. "Don't you wonder how a twelve year old boy has enough chakra to make Kage bunshin? The Hokage has been hiding it from you your whole life! That stupid old man has been letting a monster run around the village for twelve years! He-"

Three shuriken flew towards him, forcing him to duck out of the way.

"I thought I told you to shut up," Sasuke said, readying three more in the spaces between his fingers.

Mizuki pulled out another kunai, baring his teeth in a grin at the Uchiha. "This wont be as easy as taijutsu class."

Sasuke flung his shuriken at the chūnin, this time aiming for the legs. In one swipe Mizuki knocked them out of the air. With a snarl he lunged forward, stabbing the blade at Sasuke's chest. It hit nothing, and the image of the Uchiha faded out and vanished. He spun around to see five more of Sasuke surrounding him. Mizuki chuckled. Well, the boy was quick, there was no denying that, but to use the regular bunshin jutsu in the rain? His eyes jumped from one clone to the next. All he needed to do was find the one that the rain drops weren't passing through.

Suddenly the chūnin sensed movement above him, and snapped his head up. Mizuki barely managed to block the real Sasuke's kunai with his own as the boy dropped down on him. Not wasting a second, the Uchiha swung down, and used the momentum to bury his knee in the taller shinobi's gut. Sasuke leaped away as Mizuki stumbled back, one hand at his stomach, the other still holding up his kunai. The genin stood, kunai held out defensively as Mizuki straightened back up.

"You always were the best in your class, Sasuke," the teacher said, smirking at him. "So I have to wonder why you're protecting a failure like him."

Sasuke didn't answer, his mind solely occupied with coming up with a way to win. No matter how good his marks were at the academy, he was now facing a chūnin in life or death combat only days after graduation, and one that had more or less taught him every bit of taijutsu he knew at that. Mizuki might not have been as good as Kakashi, but going blow to blow with him was suicide. He needed some way to catch him off guard, to open him up and get a finishing strike in.

Mizuki wasn't about to give him the opportunity. The silver-haired shinobi charged at Sasuke, slashing at his chest. The Uchiha barely managed to block it, their blades clashing together. Mizuki bore down on Sasuke, pushing the boy's kunai back against his chest. The pointed tip of the small blade pressed into Sasuke's shirt as he struggled under older man's weight. Mizuki sneered down at him, murder in his eyes. Right as it broke the skin, Sasuke let his feet slide forward in the wet grass, dropping to his back. Mizuki stumbled as his opponent scrambled between his legs to get behind him. The chūnin whirled around to find another group of bunshin surrounding him.

"The same trick twice?" Mizuki's eyes went to the tree cover, his kunai at the ready. "Didn't I teach you better than that?" As predicted Sasuke jumped out of the branches at him, poised to strike. Mizuki tensed, ready to counterattack, but his eyes widened as he saw the rain drop through the Uchiha. Immediately he dropped his gaze dropped down to where the only other remaining Sasuke was already finishing his sequence of hand signs, rain streaming down his stony face.

The Uchiha inhaled deeply, and let loose an enormous fireball. It shot through the clearing and impacted against the branches of the trees, the flames clinging to the soaked wood and hissing under the downpour. Mizuki had dropped face down, ducking under the path of the path of the fire just in time. The rain quickly extinguished the small tongues of flame that had erupted on his flak jacket, and plumes of smoke curled up from his back as he rose to face Sasuke. Fury etched in his face, he reached into the pouch tied around his leg and pulled out another kunai. This little bastard wasn't going to get another shot in on him.

He rushed forward, ducking low at the last moment to try and get under the Uchiha's guard. Sasuke quickly stepped back, and Mizuki's kunai flew past his chin. The chūnin made another swipe at him, but Sasuke parried it, knocking his arm to the side. Mizuki swung it back around and blocked the Uchiha's attempt at a strike. Their blades clashed and clinked against each other, neither able to get an edge on the other. Mizuki's lips pulled back and he grit his teeth as every one of his strikes and slashes clanged uselessly against Sasuke's kunai. How was it that this genin, this _child _was keeping up with him? With a growl he redoubled his efforts, and the Uchiha was pushed back under the force of the blows.

Then, taking advantage of the difference in height, Mizuki brought his kunai down from above. Sasuke was forced to raise his arms over his head to block it, and as soon as he did, the chūnin slammed the tip of his sandal into his stomach. The genin doubled over from the force of the blow, still clutching his kunai. Mizuki quickly smacked it out of his hands and Sasuke stumbled backwards. With that malevolent grin stretching his mouth, Mizuki pulled his hand back to make the killing blow.

As the kunai came down at him, a jolt of adrenaline went through Sasuke's body, and his chakra felt like it was flooding into his head. All at once, time seemed to slow almost to a halt. He could see the blade coming for him, glacially sliding its way through the air. Raindrops drifted down to the ground, slow enough that he could count them. A blue glow appeared around Mizuki's arm, flowing rhythmically around the appendage. Acting on instinct, he threw himself to the side, and heard the blade whiz past his ear.

Sasuke scrambled away from the chūnin, over to where his teammate sat. The blond was leaning against a tree, trying to work up the courage to pull the kunai out of his arm. Every time he so much as grabbed the handle a stabbing pain shot through the muscle, making him hiss in agony. Naruto looked up from his injury as the Uchiha backed up next to him.

"What are you still doing here?" Sasuke demanded, panting, his eyes still locked on Mizuki. Even through the rain, Naruto could see his teammate's eyes. In fact they seemed almost to be glowing in the darkness, and they were the color of fresh blood. Sasuke reached into his pouch and produced another kunai. "You're the one he's after, so hurry up and run."

"And you think I'd just let him do that?" Mizuki pulled out three shuriken, and threw them with deadly accuracy. To Sasuke, however, they seemed to gliding almost lazily at him. With a quick swipe, the Uchiha knocked them off course, and they buried themselves in the trunk of the tree beside him.

With an enraged roar, Mizuki charged at him, swinging his kunai wildly for Sasuke's face. It seemed almost as if the chūnin was moving though molasses, and Sasuke easily blocked the strike. Another swipe of the blade came, and Sasuke tilted his head to the side as it flew less than an inch from his cheek. Face twisted up, Mizuki tried again and again to land a hit on the Uchiha, and failed every time. Those red eyes of his saw him coming well in advance, giving Sasuke plenty of time block or dodge. Yet, despite how clear his vision was now, Sasuke couldn't find an opening. Every time he tried, the chūnin quickly guarded against it, his blade coming up just in time to block the incoming strike. No matter how fast his eyes were, his body lagged behind.

Seated behind them, Naruto stared at the battle taking place before looking back down at the kunai. He grit his teeth. Did Sasuke really expect him to run away? Didn't that smug prick know who he was talking to? He was Uzumaki Naruto, and he didn't run from anyone! Sucking in a deep breath, Naruto grasped the handle of the kunai, ignoring the pain that shot through his arm. Clenching his jaw hard enough to make his teeth creak, he yanked the blade out in one swift motion, crying out as searing pain erupted in the wound and blood spilled down his arm under the jacket. Panting, with tears streaming down the sides of his cheeks and mixing with the rain, he glared at the figure of his former teacher. Shakily, he brought his hands together and made the Kage bunshin seal.

He'd meant to make dozens, hundreds even, but pain jolted through his arm and broke his concentration. Only two clones appeared, but that would be enough. They didn't need any order or gesture from Naruto to know what to do, and charged off after Mizuki. One came from the front, leaping at the chūnin with his leg out in a kick. Mizuki blocked it with one arm while parrying a kunai strike from Sasuke. The other quickly took advantage of the distraction, and ran up behind the traitorous shinobi. The clone jumped on Mizuki's back, wrapping its legs around his stomach while an arm went around his neck. The bunshin used its free hand to tug viciously on the chūnin's hair, pulling him backwards.

This was the opportunity Sasuke had been waiting for, and the Uchiha lunged forward, burying his kunai in Mizuki's stomach. The blade went straight through the sturdy fabric of the flak jacket, and pierced into the chūnin's abdomen. Mizuki tumbled backwards against a tree, hitting it with enough force to destroy the bunshin clinging to his back. Bending over, he grabbed the kunai with both hands and tugged it out. He looked up with a snarl, but his eyes widened as soon as he saw Sasuke cupping a hand around his mouth.

The Uchiha's second Gōkakyū burst forth, and this time Mizuki couldn't even think about dodging. It slammed against him, roaring as it cracked the bark of the tree and incinerated the grass. Steam rose from it as raindrops evaporated against the scorching fire. No sound came from Mizuki as the inferno raged over him. Sasuke watched, his red eyes cold as the flames began to die down. Gradually, they cleared under the rain, leaving a great black spot right against the treeline, and Mizuki lay lifeless within it. The academy instructor's body leaned limply against the burnt tree, as charred and black as the surrounding grass. His head was tilted to the side, jaw hung open, and all of his silver hair burnt from his skull.

Sasuke's eyes inspected his fallen enemy for a few moments longer, to be sure that he was dead, and then his hands lowered. The Uchiha's face was an emotionless mask as his Sharingan eyes took in the image of the first person he had ever killed. Moments later, those red eyes glanced to the side, to where the remaining bunshin stood gaping in horror at the sight before it.

"You," he said to the clone. It jumped slightly and spun to face him. "Go and get help."

"Wha-? But-" it sputtered, not moving as its eyes flicked back over to its creator.

Sasuke took a step towards it, crimson eyes glaring into the clone's. The bunshin flinched back at the sight of those red eyes burning at it. Without another word, it took off sprinting down the path back to the village.

Naruto stared up, eyes wide as those Sharingan were turned on him. Sasuke slowly trod over to him, kunai dangling loosely in his hand. Naruto pressed himself back against the tree, hand still at his wound as he felt his pulse quicken. They were exactly as they had been in his dream, red as the blood trickling down his arm and like frozen steel. The Uchiha neared, and something in the back of Naruto's mind told him that he was about die.

All Sasuke did, however, was crouch down in front of him, his eyes focusing on Naruto's wound as his hands went to his pouch.

"Get your arm out of the jacket," he instructed.

"Huh?" was all Naruto managed to say.

Sasuke held up a roll of gauze for explanation. Naruto stared dumbly at it for a second, and then his free hand went to the jacket's zipper. He had some difficulty unzipping it with only one hand, but after a moment's struggle he managed it. Gingerly, he pulled the sleeve over his wounded arm exposing it to the cold wet air. Sasuke pulled out a length of gauze from the roll and tore it off. As leaned into wrap it around Naruto's arm, however, he paused. The wound had already stopped bleeding on its own, in fact, it looked like it had been healing for days. With his Sharingan, Sasuke could see chakra collecting over the wound, and it almost seemed as if it was slowly closing right before his eyes. He quickly wrapped the gauze over it anyway, and tied it tightly around Naruto's arm.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, his voiced hushed. This close, he could see the tomoe in Sasuke's Sharingan, two in his right eye, and one in his left. "Your eyes."

"I know," Sasuke said. His meager attempt at first aid complete, he sat down in the wet grass and leaned against the tree next to Naruto. He tilted his head back against the rough wet bark of the tree, his limbs suddenly heavy. Even though the shower of rain had eased a bit, it sill dripped down through the branches of the tree and ran down his head in tiny streams. Yet, somehow, it almost felt nice. Slowly, his eyes drifted closed.

"You killed Mizuki-sensei," he heard Naruto say after a few seconds. There was no accusation in his voice, only a flat statement of fact.

Sasuke's eyes flicked back open, back to their usual dark hue. They stared across the clearing at the charred figure of his former teacher. "I know."

000

"I was at Ichiraku," Naruto began, standing before the Hokage in his office. Sasuke stood next to him while Kakashi was off a few steps behind to his left. "And Mizuki-se- Mizuki sat down on one of the stools next to me. It was kinda strange 'cause Iruka-sensei told me he didn't like ramen." His voice was flat, almost businesslike as he recounted events. His wounded arm still hung out of his jacket and he idly scratched at the new gauze that had been applied by a medic-nin in place of Sasuke's.

"He started talking to me," he continued. "Asking about how being on a team was going and stuff like that. I told him that it was kinda boring so far. We were just sparring and stuff."

"And then?" the Sandaime asked. The elderly Kage had just gone to bed and had been drifting off right as one of his guards started banging on the door. He'd hardly had time to get dressed, and his robes of office hung haphazardly from his frame. He sat rigid in his chair, knobby old hands gripping the armrests.

"He said that he'd teach me some cool new jutsu," Naruto glanced down at his toes sticking out of his sandals.

"So he told you to wait for him out in the training grounds," Sarutobi finished for him. His eyes turned to the Uchiha. "And that's where you found him, yes?" Sasuke nodded, his face completely placid. "What were you doing out there in the middle of the night?"

Sasuke gave a one shouldered shrug. "I was taking a walk."

"Alright," the Hokage began. "You were taking a walk in the dark, just happened to run into Naruto, and then Mizuki attacked you both."

Sasuke nodded again.

"And then you killed him."

There was a moment's pause as the Uchiha stared blankly into the Sandaime's eyes. "Yes."

"I see," Sarutobi turned his gaze back to Naruto. "Do you agree with this account?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes flicking briefly to Sasuke's expressionless face. "Yeah that's pretty much how it went. Mizuki stabbed me and then Sasuke and him fought. Sasuke tried to hit him with that fire jutsu but he dodged it. Then Sasuke started using that Shar-ing-gan thingy, and I made a couple clones."

Sarutobi glanced over at the Uchiha. "You awakened your Sharingan?" Sasuke gave a small nod of confirmation. Sarutobi leaned back slightly in his chair, his eyes going up to were the ceiling met the wall. "And then, I suppose Sasuke used the Gōkakyū again."

Naruto nodded, his face turning pale. There was a long moment of quiet as the Sandaime stared off into the middle distance, mulling the events over in his head. Kakashi stood with his hands in his pockets, his single eye flicked between the heads of his two students.

"There's something else," Sasuke piped up, drawing the Kage's attention. There wasn't much reason to bring this up, it was nothing more than the rantings of an insane person. Yet something about what Mizuki had said to him, the sheer intensity in the now deceased chūnin's eyes, had left him replaying the words in his head over and over.

"What is it?" the Hokage asked.

Sasuke turned his head slightly to look at Naruto. The blond was looking back at him, giving him a full view of those whisker marks on his cheeks. "Before we fought, Mizuki said something to me. He said-" his voice paused, the insanity of saying something like this to the Hokage becoming perfectly clear. Nevertheless, he pressed on. "He said that Naruto was the Kyūbi."

Naruto stared at Sasuke. What the hell was he thinking? So what if Mizuki said that? He was a crazy asshole who'd tried to murder them both. So then why was Sasuke taking this seriously? His eyes turned to the Hokage. The Old Man wasn't about to listen to crap like this. Surely he would brush off Sasuke, and call him an idiot for even bringing this up.

But the old Kage didn't do that. For many long seconds he didn't say a word. He stared into Sasuke's eyes for a long moment, and then let out a defeated sigh. Sasuke had heard the truth and he wasn't about to forget it. Just look at how the boy was scrutinizing him with those intense coal eyes of his. If he lied to him now, the Uchiha would never let this go. Sarutobi's eyes went back to Naruto, his gaze heavy.

"Well," he said, with a voice that made the bottom of Naruto's stomach drop out. "I suppose you had to find out sooner or later."

"_What?_" Naruto's heart was hammering in his chest. "What the hell are you talking about?" His head whipped toward Sasuke, who had turned those dark eyes onto him. "Mizuki was full of shit! I'm not- I mean how can you even- I-" Naruto's breath caught in his throat, and tears began to spill down his cheeks.

"Naruto," Sarutobi said gently, he leaned forward and put his hands in his lap. "Please, let me explain."

"I'm not a monster," he glared hotly through his tears. "I'm _not._"

"Of course you're not," Sarutobi closed his eyes and shook his head. This wasn't the way this was supposed to happen. Naruto should've had a few more years before having this dropped in his lap. He glanced over at Sasuke, who stared Naruto, the dark-haired boy's face unreadable. And for one of his teammates to find out as well, it was horrible all around. "Kakashi, take Sasuke out of here and explain things to him."

Kakashi nodded and stepped over to his student. He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Let's go."

Sasuke resisted the jōnin's pushing for a second, but ultimately relented and Kakashi led him out of the office. The Uchiha's eyes remained on Naruto as he left, until the door closed behind him. Alone with the Sandaime, Naruto wiped his eyes with his good arm, his head low.

"Have a seat," Sarutobi gestured at the wooden chair on the other side of his desk. Wordlessly, Naruto dropped down upon it, his eyes still fixed on the ground.

"Look at me Naruto," the Hokage ordered. Reluctantly, Naruto dragged his gaze up to meet Sarutobi's. "I want you to understand this, you are not a monster, and you are not the Kyūbi."

"But-" Naruto began. The Sandaime silenced him with a single raised finger.

"However, the day you were born, the day the Kyūbi attacked Konoha, my late successor, the Yondaime, was not able to defeat the demon fox as you had been told," Sarutobi's gaze was locked on Naruto's eyes as he spoke. "Because of this, he was forced to seal it away, sacrificing his own life in the process. He sealed the Kyūbi inside of you, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes dropped to his hands as the Hokage finished. A million thoughts seemed to swirl through his mind, but finally he settled on "Why?"

"It's not as uncommon as you might think," Sarutobi explained. "The Kyūbi is only one of what are called the nine bijū. Each one of them is currently sealed in nine people. These jinchūriki, as they're called, a live in separate countries across the world, with each of the Five Great Nations having at least one."

"Okay," Naruto said slowly. "But why _me_?"

"If not you, then who?" Of course Sarutobi couldn't reveal the true answer to that question, and so he'd prepared for when it inevitably came. "You were an infant, which meant that your keirakukei, your chakra network was still malleable enough to accommodate the Kyūbi's massive chakra. No, you weren't the only child available to us, but if we'd picked one of them, they would be in here just as you are now asking me that same question."

Naruto sat, silent as he digested the Hokage's words. There was no noise in the room save the pattering of rain against the wide window behind the Sandaime. Finally, Naruto looked back up at him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice demanding and accusing.

Sarutobi looked down at his desk, the weight of his brow threatening to crush his lined face. "Because what was done to you is unfair, no matter how good the reason was. I didn't want you to grow up with this burden on you. Most jinchūriki do, and their lives are ones of unimaginable misery. I wanted to protect you from that for as long as I could." Naruto gave no response, and so he continued, his eyes rising to meet the boy. "You see, being a jinchūriki means far more than simply containing a bijū's power. It means you will have to tame the Kyūbi, and use its power for the good of Konoha. The jinchūriki is meant not only to protect the world from the bijū, but also to serve as the village's last and greatest line of defense. No one, not even myself, carries more on their shoulders."

Naruto felt bile rise in the back of his throat. It was too much. How was he supposed to deal with this? He looked pleadingly into the Hokage's eyes. "Can't you take it out? Please?"

"I can't do that," The sight of Naruto's tearful begging was like a knife through Sarutobi's heart. "Once a bijū has been sealed within someone, it can't be removed. To do so would kill you."

The words hit Naruto like a hammer to the gut. He slumped down in his seat, fresh tears welling up in his eyes.

"Listen," Sarutobi said, rising out of his seat. Stepping around his desk, he stood over Naruto and placed a hand on the boy's head. Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his, hiccuping and sniffling. "Everything's going to be alright."

Naruto looked up at the old Kage, his eyes still glassy. "But what am I supposed to do?"

"You don't have to do anything right now," the Hokage reassured him. "For now, just by being alive, you are already doing plenty. When the time comes, I and your sensei, along with many others will be there to help you. As Konoha's jinchūriki, you will have the entire village to support you. I give you my word as Hokage."

Naruto gave a small nod, his eyes clearing of tears. Even if the Hokage had been keeping something like this from him, it was impossible to look into that lined grandfather's face of his and not trust him. It still felt as if the moon had been dropped on his shoulders, but if the Old Man promised to be by his side as he carried it, then that weight might as well have been a feather on his head.

000

Kakashi slid the door to the empty open, and Sasuke stepped in under his arm. The Uchiha's face hid any thoughts as he walked, purely out of habit, to his old seat. He dropped down on it, propping his elbows on the desk and lacing his fingers together as his eyes glanced over to his sensei. Kakashi stood with his arms crossed as his single gray eye met Sasuke's. A palpable silence hung between them for a long moment, and then Kakashi's eye blinked closed.

"So," the jōnin said. "You killed someone." The statement caught Sasuke off guard. He felt his muscles tense.

"He was going to kill Naruto," the genin held up that reason like a shield.

"I know," Kakashi's left hand slid into his pocket. "But this was your first kill, right?"

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke said quickly. "If I hadn't done it we'd both be dead right now." He was completely in the right. Mizuki had left no ambiguity as to his intentions. So then why did he need to justify himself?

"Hm," was all Kakashi said as he inspected his genin charge.

"This isn't what's really important right now anyway," Sasuke made to brush aside the topic.

"And what is?" Kakashi asked, as if he didn't already know the answer.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, his dark eyes boring into Kakashi. "What is he?"

Kakashi's arms uncrossed and went to his hips. He let out a small sigh as he tilted his head down to gather his thoughts.

"Well," he began. "No matter what Mizuki said to you, he's not the Kyūbi. However, he _does _have the demon fox sealed within him. This was done on the day of his birth by the Yondaime."

Sasuke's eyes dropped to his intertwined fingers as the words seeped into his mind. Oddly, no feeling came to him, not even surprise. To hear Kakashi say something like that as if he was simply discussing the weather, it was absurd. This had to be some sort of incredible prank Naruto was pulling on him, the idiot's greatest joke.

"Naruto is what's known as a jinchūriki," Kakashi continued. The secret was already out, he might as well give the boy a thorough explanation. "There's nine in total, each with a demon like the Kyūbi sealed in them."

Sasuke's eyes snapped to his sensei. "This has happened before?"

"Naruto's not even the first person to have the Kyūbi sealed within him." There was a pause, as, for the first time, something approaching shock colored Sasuke's features.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked slowly.

"Almost as long as there have been Hidden Villages," Kakashi answered.

Sasuke's mind reeled. The revelation that Naruto had a literal demon inside of him was staggering enough on its own, but to find out that sealing creatures like that into people was an everyday fact of life? It was as if he'd tumbled out of reality.

"And you never told us?" disbelief filled the Uchiha's voice.

"That was for Naruto's sake," Kakashi explained, his hands sliding into his pockets. "Most people aren't exactly understanding about this, as I'm sure tonight has shown you. In case I'm not being clear," he added, "that means that you're forbidden from telling anyone else about this. If Naruto wants to tell people that's his business, but you are not to go around spilling his secret, understand?" Kakashi kept his relaxed posture, but something in the jōnin's voice warned of dire consequences should he disobey.

Sasuke gave a small nod. It wasn't as if he went around trading gossip with people anyway. Satisfied, Kakashi strode up to the genin. Standing over the Uchiha, he peered intently into his eyes, as if he was inspecting them. Sasuke's brow creased at the examination.

"You awakened your Sharingan," Kakashi stated. Sasuke gave another nod. "Show me."

It seemed a bit of a strange request, but Sasuke complied without argument. Closing his eyes, he focused his chakra though his head and into his eyes. He felt a small pulse in each one, almost as if his pupils were trying to adjust to a sudden bright light. Flicking his eyelids open, the image of Kakashi looking down at him came into view with incredible clarity. That faint blue was surrounding him just as it had with Mizuki, and the tiniest detail made itself plain to him. He could count the individual strands of silver hair on his sensei's head.

"Two tomoe in the right eye?" Kakashi asked, his single eye flicking between Sasuke's. "You'd think you'd only have one in each. Are you sure this is your first time using the Sharingan?"

"What makes you such an expert?" Sasuke challenged, glaring at him with those red eyes. Unlike Naruto, however, Kakashi wasn't so easily intimidated. The jōnin pulled a hand out of his pocket and brought it up to the headband pulled down over his left eye. He pushed it up, revealing a fully matured Sharingan with three tomoe circling the pupil. Through that eye, Kakashi clearly saw the stunned outrage that roiled through the normally stoic Uchiha.

"How did you get that?" Sasuke demanded, his own tomoe beginning to swirl unconsciously. With only one in his left eye the result was something more silly than threatening, and the corners of Kakashi's mouth twitched under his mask.

"A friend gave it to me," he answered. "Before you were born." The true meaning of that statement was immediately clear. It was an implicit denial which said "No, I didn't go digging through your clan's graves to get this." Sasuke let out a breath, the tomoe of his Sharingan going still.

Kakashi pulled his headband back down, covering the dōjutsu. "Since you have your Sharingan, and since you know about Naruto, I suppose it's time to let you know the true reason Team Seven was formed."

The Uchiha's eyes snapped up, Sharingan still smoldering. "What?"

"You remember your clan's history, right?" Kakashi prodded. "How Uchiha Madara was able to control the Kyūbi with his Sharingan? Now why do you think the last two people in Konoha capable of using it were put on a team with the Kyūbi jinchūriki?"

"That's-" Sasuke began, eyes wide. The shocks just kept coming, one after another. Not only was the Kyūbi not dead, not only was it sealed within Naruto, but now he had been drafted into some sort of anti-Kyūbi defense squad? "Do you honestly think that your Sharingan could ever be as powerful as Madara's? You aren't even an Uchiha."

"If we do our job right, it wont ever come to that," Kakashi said. "We aren't meant to control the Kyūbi at its full power, just to help hold it back in case it ever tries breaking the seal. You're right, I'm not an Uchiha, which means it's only a matter of time before your Sharingan surpasses mine. When it does, it will fall to you to keep the demon in check. You can think of yourself as the Kyūbi's leash." Kakashi smiled through his mask at his student.

Sasuke felt his stomach turn and his gaze dropped to the floor. For a long moment he sat like that, his gaze locked on the wooden tiles as he desperately attempted to make sense of all this.

When he looked back up, his eyes were once again back to normal. "Why would anyone do something like this?"

"Seal a demon into a host? Well that's simple," Kakashi explained, his voice still so damn calm and matter of fact about all this. "These nine demons, bijū as they're known, are all unimaginably powerful. One of them could level an entire nation by itself. The only problem is, these creature aren't exactly what you'd call cooperative. So, you seal them in a person and not only is the beast contained, but you also have a powerful weapon at your disposal. That's what a jinchūriki is, you see," A wave of somberness flooded Kakashi's voice. "The ultimate weapon."

At this, Sasuke couldn't help but give a derisive snort. "Naruto can't even take two steps without tripping over his own feet. He's not the ultimate anything."

"True," Kakashi said, tilting his head forward slightly. "But just give him some time. I think he'll surprise you."

As if anything could ever surprise him after today.

"Well," the jōnin said, turning his head back towards the door. "I'm sure it's been a long day for you. After all this, we probably wont have a mission tomorrow, but I'd still to meet with you three. So how about we meet at around noon?"

"I guess I'll be there at one, then," Sasuke said, his face returning to its usual impassiveness as he pushed himself out of his seat. Kakashi smiled at him behind his mask as the Uchiha strolled out of the classroom. It wasn't until the door slid shut that the jōnin let his shoulders slump and let out a heavy sigh.

Did Gai have to deal with this sort of shit? Less than forty-eight hours as a sensei and two of his students are almost killed, right within the village walls by a fellow Konoha shinobi. He'd never met Mizuki, but if he had been trusted with teaching academy students, then there must not have been even a hint that he'd be capable of something like this. He must have been a completely unremarkable, caring instructor right up until the moment he buried a kunai in Naruto's arm. The son of a bitch was lucky, in a way. His relatively quick death at Sasuke's hands was a mercy compared for what they would had in store for a traitor like him.

The only thing worth regretting about his death was that he got a chance to run his mouth before Sasuke killed him, and right in front of Naruto's teammate too. It was supposed to be Naruto who told Sasuke about this, preferably years from now when trust had been built up between them, when they were truly teammates and not just on a team together. How long had it been since Team Seven formed? A little over two days ago? And already this enormous secret had been spilled. Of the two major parameters of his assignment to Team Seven, one had already been failed, and the other would have failed if not for a random bit of luck.

It was that second part that really sent chills down the jōnin's spine. There had been no reason, no reason at all for Sasuke to walk down that particular path at that particular time. He could have decided not to enter the training grounds, or gone left at a crossroads instead of right. Right from the beginning he might've decided to walk around a different part of the village. Had that been the case, Naruto would probably be dead right now. Kakashi felt his pulse quicken in spite of himself. That little idiot, what had he been thinking? "Come with me to the middle of the woods at night during a rainstorm?" What kind of shinobi wouldn't immediately see that as suspicious? If Sasuke hadn't shown up, that stupid boy would have just stood there out in that forest with that oblivious smile on his face as his death approached. He wouldn't have even seen the killing blow coming.

As Kakashi trudged over to the door, it felt as if the silver hair on his head wasn't simply the result of being a Hatake. Gai had warned him, those enormous eyebrows all scrunched together as he did his best to look serious, that being a sensei would be the most difficult mission he ever took. He slid the door open, his one eye glancing at the spot where the eraser had dropped on his head only two days before. That tights-wearing idiot had never been more right about anything in his entire life.

* * *

Despite how serious and generally devoid of humor this chapter is, I must say that writing Anti-Kyūbi Defense Squad was pretty fun.

AKDS FOR LIFE


	8. Chapter 8

The Hokage's office filled with the smoky scent of the Sandaime's pipe. Sunlight streamed in from the window behind the old Kage, highlighting the trails from the burning tobacco. Sakura stood with her teammates, waiting patiently as the Hokage read through their mission report, taking the occasional draw from that well worn pipe.

"Another successful mission," the Sandaime said, smiling up at her and her teammates. "Well done." Sakura smiled modestly, hiding the pride that welled up within her. It hadn't been the most difficult of missions, simply catching a lost cat, but praise from a Kage was no small thing.

"So, for your next mission," the Hokage continued, looking down at the scrolls. "We have babysitting, some farm work, or-"

"No way!" Naruto piped up, his voice at its usual volume, about ten notches above what was appropriate. "What's with all these crappy missions, huh? I wanna do a real mission! Something cool and awesome and badass!"

Sakura could feel a vein in her temple throbbing as she clenched her fist. That stupid brat, mouthing off like this in front of Hokage-sama. They'd barely been out of the academy a week, who did he think he was?

"Have you completely lost your mind, Naruto?" Iruka-sensei jumped out of his seat by the Hokage's side, and began voicing her irritation for her. "You're just a rookie, you idiot! Do you really think you're anywhere near ready for those kinds of missions?"

"'Course I am!" Naruto shot back, a cocky grin spreading on his face. "You're looking at the guy who's gonna be Hokage someday!"

"Naruto," the Sandaime said, holding up a hand in front of Iruka's chest. "Do I really need to explain the concept of mission rankings to you? It's something you should have learned in the academy." Naruto gave the Hokage that clueless look that seemed to always be on his face when anything school related was brought up. The Kage sighed, and looked down at the scrolls on his desk.

"Missions are assigned based on skill and experience. They go from D up to S. Since you are genin, and still fresh out of the academy, D-ranks are perfect for you. Do you understand?"

Of course he didn't, the short little moron wasn't even paying attention anymore. He was digging through that frog wallet of his, counting his mission pay.

"Pay attention when Hokage-sama speaks to you!" Iruka's face was rapidly beginning to resemble a tomato at the sheer disrespect the blond was displaying. It had always been a wonder that their old sensei hadn't keeled over from a heart attack by now.

"Why should I?" Naruto countered petulantly, his lower lip sticking out. "You guys are always lecturing me like I'm still some stupid kid. Well guess what? I'm not the same brat I was in the academy. I'm a ninja, and I want a ninja mission!"

_No, you're definitely still a brat_, the thought ran through Sakura's mind. She wasn't about start arguing in front of Hokage-sama, however, and settled for glaring at the yellow-haired annoyance.

"Is that truly how you feel?" the Sandaime said, his eye glinting. "In that case I think I do have a mission for you three."

"Really?" Naruto's face brightened immediately. "What is it?"

"It's a C-rank mission," the Sandaime answered, a small smirk playing at his lips. "You'll all be acting as bodyguards."

"Ooh, who're we guarding? A daimyō?" Naruto was practically bouncing with excitement, which Sakura didn't share. If someone needed bodyguards that meant they thought they might be put in danger, and if the three of them were to be the guard then it also meant they would be right in the path of that danger.

"Be patient," the Hokage said. "He's already been summoned, and he'll be here shortly."

As if on cue, there came a knock at the door.

"The client for the bodyguarding mission has arrived," the door guard called.

"Send him in," the Hokage answered. At this command, the door creaked open. Sakura could smell their client before she saw him, the room seemed to fill with the stench of liquor. A scraggly, gray-haired man wearing a sleeveless shirt and a sour look on his face stepped in. He took a swig from the large bottle he had gripped in his hand and stared disapprovingly down at the three of them.

"These are my bodyguards?" he asked, his voice rolling around in his throat like gravel. "It's just a bunch of little brats." He glared, bleary eyed down at Naruto. "And what this short one with the stupid lookin' face doing here, huh? No way he's a ninja."

Naruto snickered and turned to Sasuke. "Think he's talking about you?" Sakura stared at Naruto, watching the gears work in his head as her teammate realized that Sasuke was taller than him. It took him a while, but eventually it clicked. Naruto's eyes snapped open and he whirled on their client.

"Bastard!" he cried. "I'll freaking kill you for that!" He made to rush at the drunken man but Kakashi caught him by the scruff of his jacket.

"You can't kill our clients, Naruto," their sensei admonished. Naruto struggled against Kakashi's grip for a few seconds longer before going slack. Their client took another swig from his bottle.

"Alright, you brats," he said, wiping his mouth his bare arm. "My name's Tazuna, and I'm the greatest bridge builder the Land of Waves has ever seen. There's a bridge there that needs finishing, so you're gonna take me to it and protect me 'till it's done, you got that?"

000

The morning sunlight peeked through Naruto's window, hitting him straight in the eyes. Grumbling slightly, he turned over and buried his head in his pillow. A few blissful moments passed, as Naruto began to sink back into his slumber, but then his eyes snapped open. Another dream. Reluctantly he sat up, his mouth stretching wide in a yawn. Naruto rubbed the sleep from his eyes, before looking down at his lap. Well, there hadn't been anything that could be described as horrible in that dream, but it still had that strange feeling of lucidity, that utter clarity that put even his waking memories to shame. Added to that, was the fact that he'd been looking in on the scene through someone else'seyes. In all the other dreams, he had been firmly inside his own head, so this was a first. That memory of himself, moving around and talking, was enough to make his head spin.

He slammed his fist into the mattress, a scowl forming on his face. Hadn't he been rid of these dreams? For two days he'd gone dream free, so why were they suddenly back? What would it take to cure himself of this? With a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, he rubbed his face in the palms of his hands. Dragging the tips of his fingers down below his eyes, he peeked over at the small notebook laying atop his small nightstand.

Sighing, he reached over and lifted up, along with the accompanying pencil, and stared forlornly down at it. This was not the sort of thing he wanted to be dealing with right now. Not after- A small shudder ran through him as last night began to crawl forward to the front of his mind. Shaking his head vigorously, he flipped the notebook's cover open and began scribbling within the neat rows of lines. There was no point in thinking about it, he told himself. Not about how he nearly died, or how Sasuke had killed someone. Not about how Mizuki looked after getting hit by that fire jutsu, all twisted and charred like piece of burnt meat. And definitely not about that other thing. That was yesterday and this was today.

His brow furrowed, Naruto wrote down a description of his dream, vigilantly pushing away the dark thoughts that clustered around his head.

000

The cloud cover of yesterday had exhausted itself the night before, and with the rising of the sun it quickly began to crumble. By the time noon approached, there was almost nothing left of that once solid gray ceiling. Despite what Sasuke had said to Kakashi, he was the first to arrive outside the academy, and stood leaning against the wooden fence. Sleep had come surprisingly easy to him last night, performing two Gōkakyū jutsu and using his Sharingan for the first time had taken quite a bit out of him. From the moment he'd woken up, however, right up until this moment, the events of last night kept playing over and over in his head. Laying in bed that morning, it had almost seemed like some incredibly bizarre dream, but all it took was one look at his new dōjutsu in the mirror to show him that it wasn't so.

Naruto had the Kyūbi sealed inside him. That loud, stupid, clumsy buffoon who couldn't even throw a proper kick held the most powerful demon in the world within him. Considering it for even a second made his mind reflexively scoff and reject the possibility. The Kyūbi was a being of almost infinite power, able to call up tsunamis and hurricanes with the sweep of its tails. How could someone like Naruto be able to contain such a creature? Nothing about this made any sense at all.

The sound of footsteps drew Sasuke's attention and he glanced up to see Hinata approaching. She walked straight up to him, wearing that timid, almost frightful look she seemed to always have on.

"I-," she began, forgoing her usual greeting. "I heard what happened last night." She didn't need to say so, the look on her face made that perfectly clear.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in acknowledgment. It was the most he had ever said to her since joining Team Seven. She had always been satisfied with just that, but this time she pressed on.

"Why did Mizuki-se- why did he-?" the words seemed unwilling to come out and her wavering voice died. Her head tilted down to where she was twisting up the front of her jacket in her hands.

Sasuke looked up into her pale eyes, and suddenly the overwhelming urge to tell her the truth crashed over him like a torrent of waves. No one had asked if he was okay with all of this. The Hokage, and Kakashi had simply dragged him into this cabal and expected him to uphold their secret. But why should he? Perhaps it would be better if everyone knew how they were being lied to, that the Kyūbi wasn't actually dead.

He looked away from her, his eyes dropping to the ground. "I have no idea."

If she was unsatisfied with that answer, she didn't show it, and the two of them fell back into silence. Then, there came the sound of another pair of footsteps approaching, and her eyes snapped up.

"Naruto!" she cried, running up to her teammate. The genin was strolling up to the two of them, hands behind his head as if nothing had happened.

"Mornin' Hinata," he gave her a cheerful grin. "How's it-"

"K-Kakashi-sensei told me what happened," she cut him off, her shaky voice tumbling out. "Are you-? Why did-? You-" her breath hitched in her throat, and her shoulders began trembling.

"Hey, don't worry about me," he reassured her. "That bastard barely got a scratch on me."

"But you almost- Y-You almost-" tears spilled out of her pale eyes as her voice failed her. She seemed almost to fold in on herself as the sobs came in earnest, as if the sheer weight of her worry was about to crush her.

As far as Naruto was concerned, her tears might as well have been streams of acid. He took a half step back from her, panic rising in his face.

"Hey," he urged. "_Hey. _Quit crying, alright?" Gingerly, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm still here ain't I? It's gonna take a lot more than some stupid academy teacher to take me down."

Hinata sniffled, hiccuping slightly. "I'm s-sorry."

"Here," Naruto produced a crinkled napkin from his pocket. Wordlessly, she took it and began dabbing her eyes. It smelled like ramen.

From his spot against the fence, Sasuke silently watched Naruto as he clumsily attempted to console the Hyūga. His dark eyes scanned over his teammate, as if trying to find something different about him. Of course, there wasn't. What was he expecting? For Naruto to have suddenly grown claws, or fangs? It wasn't as if the Kyūbi had been sealed within Naruto just now. Yet looking at him, with that same loud orange jacket, that same dopey face, it simply felt wrong. Only those whisker marks gave even the slightest hint of what lurked within. It made no sense at all. How could a monster like the Kyūbi be sealed in someone so utterly mundane?

Feeling Sasuke's eyes on him, Naruto looked up at the Uchiha. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, before Sasuke quickly turned his head away.

Frowning, Naruto stepped past Hinata and closed in on his teammate. Hearing the footsteps, Sasuke reluctantly turned his head back around. Naruto had his head tilted down and seemed quite interested in his own toes. He scratched at the back of his head as he worked up the nerve to speak. Sasuke's eyebrow quirked slightly at the display. They weren't exactly what one would consider friends, but Sasuke had been around the blond long enough to get a sense of his usual behavior, and this was anything but usual. The Naruto he knew was never shy about what he wanted to say. Every single day he would be staring him down, bothering him, and challenging him, completely undaunted by the past results of such efforts.

For the yellow-haired boy to be standing there, struggling to even _speak_ to him, it wouldn't have been any more surprising to see Iruka backflipping naked through the village streets.

"Hey," Naruto finally began, but then he hit another roadblock. It seemed as if he needed to say something to Sasuke, but what? "Thanks for killing someone for me?" "Hope you're okay with me being the container of a demon? "Congrats on getting your Sharingan?" Cursing his sudden cowardice, he gave the dirt a small kick with the front of his sandal. "I-"

"Yo!" Kakashi called to his students, waving as he ambled up to them. "Sorry I'm late, my watch broke."

"You're not really late," Naruto said, his attention completely shifted from Sasuke. "I just got here a couple minutes before you."

"I'm not?" the jōnin tilted his head slightly in a facade of confusion. In fact, he was almost five minutes late. It was, he felt, the earliest he could get here while still technically being considered late by the most common definition. On any other day he would've waited at least another fifteen minutes, but somehow, after last night, that didn't seem like the best idea. There was no telling how Naruto and Sasuke would be coping, and Hinata still probably had quite a few questions. No, leaving them to stew for an hour or three just wouldn't fly today. "Hm, well then, I'd like you three to come with me. We need to have a little talk."

He led his students past the front gate of the academy, to a spot in the grounds surrounding the building where a large, flat tree stump sat. With a small gesture from the masked jōnin, all three of them were quickly seated upon it. They looked up expectantly at their sensei as he stood before them, his arms crossed.

"As all three of you are aware," he began, "Last night, Naruto was lured out to the middle of the training grounds by Mizuki, an instructor at this academy, who apparently planned to kill him. Sasuke happened to be in the area at the time, intervened, and ultimately killed Mizuki."

Hinata's eyes went wide, and turned her gaze to her dark-haired teammate. She hadn't been aware of that at all. Sasuke felt her eyes on him, but refused to return it.

"Now," Kakashi continued, ignoring the Hyūga's shock. "What do you suppose we can learn from this?"

"Eh?" Naruto tilted his head. "Whaddaya mean 'learn?'"

"I mean," the jōnin answered, his eye meeting Naruto's "That there is a lesson in this, one that you in particular need to learn if you want to stay alive."

Naruto tilted his head, looking terribly similar to a dog that had been given a command it didn't recognize. Kakashi made a small frustrated noise in the back of his throat and shook his head.

"You're a shinobi, Naruto," he explained. "And shinobi must be constantly on the lookout for potential danger. Didn't you think for a second that Mizuki asking you to walk out, alone in the middle of the night, to the middle of a forest was suspicious?"

"Not really," Naruto scratched the top of his head. "I mean, it was just Mizuki. I didn't think he was gonna- You know."

"But he did," the jōnin countered. "When someone, especially someone you know, asks you to do something strange like that, you need to be cautious. What if, tomorrow, someone uses henge to impersonate me and asks you to go with them out of the village walls into the woods?"

"Um," was all Naruto had for an answer. His eyes squinted shut and his brow furrowed as he mulled it over. Finally, he looked back up and offered a rebuttal. "But what if _you're_ not the real Kakashi, and you're about to attack us right now?"

"Think, you idiot," irritation was edging into Kakashi's voice. "If I was out to do you harm, why would I do it right in front of the Shinobi Academy in broad daylight? For god's sake, Hokage-sama is barely a stone's throw away." He gestured to the window leading into the Sandaime's office. "Just use your common sense."

Honestly, why did he even need to explain this? What were they teaching these kids in the academy anyways? It was like he was talking to a toddler, not a trained Konoha shinobi. If this little moron had been a shinobi during the Third War, he wouldn't have lasted a day.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Naruto pouted. "Geez, you sound like Iruka-sensei."

Kakashi's eye stared critically at his student for a moment longer, before it closed and he gave a small shake of his head. If the boy didn't want to learn, what could he do? "Alright, you three can go."

"Wait what?" demanded Naruto. "That's it? You just give me a lecture and send us back home? I mean, why'd I even get out of bed this morning?"

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "You almost died last night. And anyway, you're injured."

"No I'm not. Here, look," he quickly stood and unzipped his jacket. Pulling his arm out of the sleeve, he revealed the unblemished skin on his arm. There wasn't even a scar. He gave his bicep a few slaps for good measure. "See? Doesn't hurt a bit."

In any other person, a wound like that should've lasted for at least a couple of weeks. That kunai had sliced right through the muscle and even nicked the bone. Even with medical ninjutsu, that arm should still be out of commission. It seemed that there was at least one upside to being a jinchūriki.

"Come on," Naruto continued his pleading. "All we've done is spar and read books. I wanna do some ninja stuff already."

Kakashi's eye drifted past Naruto to his two other students. Sasuke was hunched over on the stump, his elbows propped on his knees and his face closed off. Next to him, Hinata sat looking up a Naruto, a telltale redness around her solid white irides.

Maybe Naruto had the right idea after all. Giving them something practical to work on might help take their minds off things.

"Alright," Kakashi said.

"Wha- really?" Naruto asked hopefully. Kakashi nodded.

"You want to do 'ninja stuff?' Then we'll do ninja stuff." With that, he turned away from his students, and strolled over to the academy building. Feeling six pairs of eyes on him, the jōnin smirked slightly to himself. With his hands in his pockets, he made it to the outer wall of the building, and without breaking stride, he began walking up it.

Naruto watched, jaw slack as his sensei made it nearly to the roof of the building, before lightly kicking off and flipping through the air. He landed right in front of the blond as gracefully as a ballerina.

"Wow!" the genin looked like he was about to start applauding. "That's so awesome! How do you do that?"

"It's easy," Kakashi began his instruction. "All you do is focus chakra into the soles of your feet and use it to stick to a solid surface. Usually you'd be running up trees for this sort of training, but I think this'll work as a substitute. So, who wants to try it first?"

"Me!" Naruto shouted. Without another word he sprinted at the academy wall. Coming to a halt right in front of it, he stared up at the guard rails on the roof, his jaw set. He brought his hands together in the standard ram seal and began focusing as much chakra into his feet as he could. Smiling confidently, he pressed his foot against the wall.

It promptly launched backward, sending him tumbling into the grass.

"A bit overzealous," came Kakashi's critique as the blond pushed himself out of the dirt. He turned that partially lidded eye to Sasuke. "How about you?"

The Uchiha silently stood, and strode past Naruto to the wall. Taking only a second to focus his chakra, he planted his left foot firmly on the wall, and felt it stick there as if he had magnets in his sandals. Carefully, he swung his right leg up, sticking his foot to the wall in a long step. He managed another, and then one more, before his back foot began to lift from the wall. He quickly attempted to correct himself, but overcompensated, and began sliding down. Right before he completely lost his balance, he kicked himself away from the wall, landing on his feet next to Naruto. A scowl was beginning to tug at his mouth.

"Not bad," Kakashi commented. "But you need to work on your control. You have to keep your chakra steady." He looked down at his third student. "You're up."

Hinata gave a small nod and rose. Walking up to the building her eyes were drawn to the roof, which suddenly seemed much higher than it had been before. Taking a breath, she closed her eyes and began focusing her chakra. Seconds later, she lifter her leg and brought the sole of her sandal flat against the wall. Taking another breath, she pushed her other leg up to take her first step. As soon as she did, however, the chakra gluing her to the wall severed, and she fell flat on her back with a small gasp.

"Not enough chakra," Kakashi gave a small shake of his head. "You have to have enough to support your weight."

An embarrassed blush came to Hinata's face as she pushed herself back up, dirt clinging to the back of her jacket.

"Alright," their sensei said, flipping open his breast pocket and pulling out one of his books. "All of you find a spot and keep at it. We'll go until one of you makes it to the roof." He flipped open the dog eared copy of Icha Icha Paradise to a page with a folded corner, and plopped down onto the tree stump.

"Bet I make it up there before you," Naruto shot at Sasuke. The Uchiha glanced at him for a second, before one of the corners of his mouth pulled back in a superior smirk.

"You couldn't even make it one step," he countered. "It'll be a miracle if you get halfway."

"You wanna bet, you bastard?" Naruto held up a fist, rising to that challenge, and rushed back to the wall. Sasuke quickly joined him, and they went back at it.

Kakashi's eye drifted lazily over the lines of his book as the sounds of sandals slapping against plaster reached his ears, followed shortly by a couple of dull thuds. The shadow of a smile played against his lips.

000

The sun hung low in the sky, sending dull orange streams of light through the windows of the academy. Kakashi strolled through the empty halls of the building, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a single piece of paper, torn from a notebook. The day had actually been going pretty well, all things considered. Naruto and Sasuke had been racing up the wall of the academy, their faces all set and determined, while Hinata made her own slow but steady progress. It had been almost possible to pretend that they were nothing more than a normal genin team, learning the basics like any other with their sensei on a cool spring day.

Then, right as Kakashi had dismissed them, Naruto had come up to him and swept that illusion away.

Sasuke had been the first on the rooftop, but it had been much closer than any of them expected. The Uchiha had been focusing so much of his attention on staying ahead of Naruto, that it wasn't until the very end that Hinata was only a few steps from beating them both. The boy was having none of that, and damn near sprinted his way up the wall, the slapping of his sandals ringing out as he zoomed past the Hyūga.

The sight of Sasuke's arrogant smirk as he looked down on them hadn't been exactly pleasant, but at least he seemed happy. And so Kakashi had given them a quick word of praise for their progress, and with a wave dismissed them. Sasuke and Hinata had made to leave, but Naruto hadn't. Instead, the blond had come up to him, all that energy from earlier gone, and told him that the dreams had started again.

Kakashi's eye scanned over the boy's sloppy handwriting. This dream, as Naruto described it, didn't seem like the sort of thing that was worth reporting in. In fact, it was utterly mundane. When the jōnin had said as much to Naruto, the boy had only said that it "felt" the same as the others. That wasn't much to go on, but then Hokage-sama had said that _any__thing _unusual was to be reported.

The door guard, upon seeing Kakashi turn a corner and approach, gave the jōnin a quick nod before knocking sharply at the Hokage's door.

"Hatake Kakashi here to see you, Hokage-sama," he called, his voice dulled with the repetition of making such announcements throughout the day.

"Let him in, then," comes the Sandaime's voice, heavy and gruff at the end of a long day. The guard almost mechanically twists the doorknob and pushes it open, just wide enough for Kakashi to squeeze through.

Inside, he found the old Kage at his desk, one hand clutched around his pipe as he reviewed the last of the day's mission reports. His hat lay to the side of the desk, leaving his eroded hairline exposed. In a chair to his left sat Iruka, his own stack of papers in his lap.

Over the last few years, the Sandaime had started requesting the aid of the chūnin instructors in the academy to get through the reams and reams of paperwork that flooded his desk. The nearly seventy year old Hokage would never admit it out loud, but the fact was his eyes weren't what they used to be. He could still lodge a shuriken into someone's throat from a hundred feet away if required, but getting through the meticulous little lines of print on the daily reports required quite a bit of squinting, which left his temples throbbing by the end of the day. As such, Iruka had begun to spend more and more time by his Kage's side after the school day had ended.

"So, Kakashi, what did you need to see me for?" Sarutobi asked. He already had something of an inkling as to why the jōnin would be reporting in like this, and his suspicions were confirmed when he placed a notebook page upon his desk. The Sandaime picked the flimsy piece of paper off the desk and peered down at the scrawled description. Iruka glanced over at the Hokage, worry beginning to work its way onto his face.

"Hm," the Hokage said, not taking his eyes from the page. "This hardly seems worth worrying about, Kakashi."

"Naruto seems to disagree, Hokage-sama," the masked jōnin answered.

"I see," the Sandaime brought his pipe to his mouth. He took a long draw, and then released it in a long, thin stream of gray smoke. His brown eyes focused in on a certain part of the text, a name.

"Tazuna," he said out loud. "'the greatest bridge builder in the Land of Waves.' You know, I've actually heard of him."

"Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked. Without the paper to guide him, the chūnin was thoroughly lost.

"Naruto says he dreamed about accepting a mission from this man," Sarutobi explained. "Tazuna used to be famous in his homeland for his architectural and engineering prowess. Apparently, he once built a bridge in a coastal town, and some time later the town was ravaged by a fierce hurricane. While most other structures in the town were destroyed, his bridge had been completely undamaged by the storm."

"But why would Naruto be dreaming about someone like that?" the academy instructor questioned.

"Who can say?" Sarutobi gave a one shouldered shrug. "Perhaps Naruto heard about him somewhere, and this is just a normal dream after all."

Those words did little to comfort Iruka, and his eyes dropped back to his lap as his jaw clenched.

"It's going to be alright, Iruka," Sarutobi made to ease the chūnin's frustration. "If there is something to these dreams, it's only a matter of time before it reveals itself to us."

"It's just- It doesn't seem fair," Iruka said morosely. "Naruto already has things hard enough without this on top of it. I mean, just look at what happened last night, for god's sake." The chūnin's pulse had begun to quicken as he vented, and it seemed as if he was about to leap from his seat.

Neither of the chūnin's superiors had anything to say to that, and an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Iruka stared down at his lap, to where his hand had tightly gripped the stack of papers, leaving one side badly crinkled. It was a bitter pill to swallow. Mizuki, a man he had worked with for years, a man he considered his friend, had tried to murder Naruto. Why hadn't he seen it? He'd never once suspected his colleague would ever do a thing to harm one of his students, and yet here it was.

"How did Mizuki even manage to get Naruto alone?" Iruka spoke out loud, giving voice to his thoughts. "Doesn't he have people guarding him?"

"Not anymore," Kakashi said, fixing his single eye on the chūnin. "Do you really think I'm about to let ANBU follow my team around?"

"What?" an outraged Iruka began. "Have you lost your mind? Naruto-"

"He's right, Iruka," Sarutobi cut in. "Naruto is a trained genin now, and as such the responsibility of his protection falls to his jōnin sensei. Giving him extra protection would imply that Kakashi isn't up to the task of keeping Naruto safe, and if I believed that I would never have put the boy on a genin team at all."

"But Naruto's different," Iruka protested, forgetting for the moment exactly who he was arguing with. "He's in far more danger than any other genin, last night proves that. We can't-"

"And what would you do?" an edge was starting to form in Kakashi's voice. "Have bodyguards tailing him for the rest of his life? What if an enemy shinobi attacks him when he's out on a mission? Should ANBU be there to jump in and fight his battles for him?"

Iruka opened his mouth to retort, but Sarutobi held his hand up.

"Enough, both of you. I assure you, Iruka, that I'm well aware of the sort of danger that comes with being a jinchūriki, but Naruto is a fully fledged shinobi. It is no longer acceptable to treat him as if he were a helpless child." the Hokage's words had the weight of finality behind them, and Iruka's face fell back to his lap.

"Now then," the Kage turned back to the jōnin standing before him. "If there's nothing else, Kakashi, you are dismissed."

000

The bottle already felt too light in his hand as he stumbled into the front doors of the dome shaped building. He'd bought it only an hour or so ago, drawing from that shallow well of ryō that hadn't been set aside for the mission. He hadn't recognized the brand on the label, and didn't bother to ask the shopkeeper when he'd bought it. All that had mattered was that it was cheap and there was plenty of it. Well, it had seemed like there was plenty at the time, but now as the dull green bottle swung back and forth with his stride, he could hear that distinctive shallow sloshing which told him he would be heading back to that liquor store before long.

As he made his way to the end of the main hall, he peered through alcohol impaired eyes at the directions painted on the wall. A red arrow with "Mission Requests" printed within it pointed to the hall to his right, and so down that hall he went. Even through the haze of the undefined liquor, a small knot began to form in his stomach as he drunkenly strode through the sterile halls of the academy building.

Would he even be able to afford a mission? All the money frantically pooled together by his town had not amounted to that much at all. It was more than the old drunk had seen in years, but it was a well known fact that shinobi did not come cheap, and they didn't like haggling either. Konoha tended to be a bit more generous than its main rivals, but the price tag for a good team of ninja was still enough to scare off all but the wealthiest clients.

It wasn't like he could just turn around and go back home, though. If he tried, he'd be dead before he was even out of the Land of Fire, and then the bridge would never be completed. Gatō would have complete control over Wave's trade routes, and things would go to shit from there. No, he would simply have to stretch his meager funds as far as possible.

He reached the sliding door that lead into the mission request office, and, pausing to take a swig from his bottle, he pulled it open. The room was empty, save for a single desk worker stacking papers at her desk. Upon hearing the door slide open, she looked up and frowned at the scraggly looking man who had staggered in.

"I'm sorry," she said, her nose wrinkling slightly as the stench of alcohol hit her. "We're closed for today."

"Wha-?" he slurred, fixing her with an inebriated glare. "Then how come the door wasn't locked?"

"I was just cleaning up," she explained, eying him warily as he swayed on his feet. The last thing she needed today was to have some drunken hobo pass out in front of her and have to drag him out of the building.

"Guess that means you're not closed then," he grinned as if he'd just out outmaneuvered her in a game of shogi.

"Sir, do you even have enough to pay for a shinobi mission?" she questioned, her eyes roaming over his shoddy clothing.

"'Course I do!" he answered indignantly. His hand dug through his pocket and he produced a thick roll of bills. The drunkard waved it triumphantly at her. "I got money and I wanna hire some ninja. That makes me a paying customer, so start treating me like one."

She stared at him for a few moments longer, and then heaved a weary sigh. Reaching under her desk, she pulled open the lid to a cardboard box. The official slid out a blank application page and laid it on the desk.

"Sit down, please," she gestured to the chair in front of her. He dropped down upon it, the bottle clinking against the wooden floor to his side. Picking up a pen, she brought it to hover expectantly over the application. "Name?"

"Tazuna."


	9. Chapter 9

Even in times of peace, the number of missions that passed through the Hokage's desk was staggering. With the end of the Third War, many, including the Land of Fire's daimyō, had assumed that the shinobi profession would begin to wane. After all, if there was no war, then what good were soldiers? The fact that this assumption proved to be false was a testament to the versatility and adaptability of the shinobi. People who had spent their entire careers on the battlefield slid almost seamlessly in to the roles of bodyguards, detectives, and bounty hunters. Before the ink on the peace treaty had a chance to dry, the shinobi of Konoha had shifted from a rigid standing army to a sprawling mercenary enterprise. Indeed, the flood of requests that poured into the Hokage's office had only increased with the peace.

Today, however, the Sandaime's attention was focused on but one of these mission requests.

It wasn't the contents of the mission itself that had left the Hokage staring down at the unassuming paper, his eyes scanning its contents over and over. It was nothing more than a simple C-rank. Escort someone back to their home in the Land of Waves, and keep them safe from any bandits or thieves along the way. Any chūnin, or even a modestly experienced genin team could do it. What had drawn the Kage's attention, making him go as still as a statue, was the name given for the client.

_Tazuna. _His eyes flicked over the notebook paper laying next to the report. He'd been glancing back and forth between the two of them for what had to be ten minutes now, trying to see if perhaps he made some sort of mistake. There was no denying it, however. The mission report matched up exactly with Naruto's dream as he described it. There were a few reasons why this might be so, none of them particularly pleasant to consider, but there was no point in jumping to conclusions without more information. His eyes focused in on the name of the official who had written down the request, a woman by the name of Mai.

Rising from his seat, the old Kage strode to the front door and swung it open.

"Go fetch Mai from Mission Requests," the Sandaime ordered to his door guard. The guard quickly gave a bow.

"At once, Hokage-sama."

As he returned to his chair, Sarutobi couldn't help the small wave of giddiness that went through him, in spite of the situation.

The first of these bizarre dreams had been impossible to ignore. Naruto had come to the academy that day with knowledge of a jutsu he could only have learned by reading the Scroll of Seals. A frantic investigation quickly followed, resulting in nothing. No leads, no evidence, nothing to suggest anything out of ordinary had happened. This was impossible, of course, since Naruto had to have read that scroll to learn how to use the Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It was the only remaining text in Konoha that described in any detail how to use that technique. The only other explanation was that someone taught it to him, which was even more worrisome. Yet there was nothing, not even in the boy's mind, to indicate that this was the case.

All of this left him with two possibilities, either nothing had happened to the boy that night or he'd somehow gained access to the Scroll of Seals, neither of which, according to all evidence, could be true. At the time, he'd simply assumed that he was lacking some vital piece of information, something that would reveal itself in due time, and so all they had to do was wait. However, what followed after that first day had been no help at all. Of the next two dreams Naruto had described, one of them seemed completely normal, and the other, while troubling, gave him nothing to go on.

Now, it seemed, that missing final clue had at last presented itself to him.

Naruto dreams about accepting a mission from a man named Tazuna, and a day later a that same man requests a mission, exactly as how the boy described it? The suspicious nature that afflicted your average shinobi might have been dulled in the Sandaime by years of desk work, but it was impossible to look at this and not see a connection. What that connection might be was still a mystery, but now that the Hokage had caught a scent, he would chase it to the ends of the earth.

Three sharp knocks came at Sarutobi's door. "I have Mai with me, Hokage-sama."

"Send her in," he called back. The door creaked open, and a short brunette with ink stains on the tips of her fingers slid in. She gave the Hokage a deep bow, looking very much like a schoolgirl who had been sent to the principal.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" her voiced wavered slightly.

Sarutobi nodded, and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat."

She quickly obliged, lowering herself onto the hard wooden seat, wringing her hands.

"Now then," the Hokage got right to the point. He held up the application, his finger tapping the upper right hand corner of the page. "That is your name there, isn't it?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," she nodded. "Is there something wrong with it? I-"

"No, there's nothing wrong," he reassured her, lowering the paper. "I only wanted to verify that it was you who took this Tazuna's mission request."

"I did, Hokage-sama," she answered, her face pulling into a frown. Was he why she was in here? That stinking drunk, had he done something? Her fingers began curling into fists. If that old bastard had managed to get her fired, she would shove that bottle of his straight up his ass.

"Tell me about him," the Sandaime instructed, leaning back in his chair.

Mai blinked at the request. "Um, well, he came in drunk, carrying a bottle of some cheap liquor. I could smell it on him the moment he walked in. It was right after closing time, so I asked him to leave, but he was pretty persistent about requesting a mission, and so, well..."

"And what about the mission he requested?" Sarutobi questioned. His face gave no indication as to what might be going through his mind.

"As you can see, Hokage-sama, he asked for a C-rank," she said, her eyes flicking to the application form. "He said he wanted the cheapest mission possible, and so I gave him a list of the mission ranks and their prices. He looked it over for a while, and then said that a C-rank would be perfect."

"Hm," the Hokage's gaze fell to the two papers laid out before him. "Did you notice anything strange about him?"

"Strange?" Mai repeated. "No, not really. I mean, except for the fact that he was able to afford a mission at all. He didn't exactly look wealthy."

"I see," the Sandaime gave a small nod. "Well then, I suppose you may go now."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," a small wave of relief washed over her as she stood to bow. Without another word, she hurriedly scurried out of the room. Alone once more, Sarutobi tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling.

At first glance, his conversation with Mai told him almost nothing. Tazuna had drunkenly stumbled in late in the day and requested a mission. Yet, somehow, the scene the official had described set off a few alarms in Sarutobi's head. Why, for instance, had Tazuna come in late if he was so keen on requesting a mission? The business hours of the academy were no secret, so then why wait until the last minute? The easy answer was that he had gotten drunk and simply forgotten, but the easy answer was no longer satisfactory. That image in the Sandaime's head, one of a shabby looking drunk stumbling his way up to the Mission Requests office, it was almost too unassuming. It could very well be that someone had disguised himself as Tazuna, and come in late to reduce the odds of running into any Konoha nin.

Added to that was the question of how someone apparently so poor could afford a mission in the first place. There were plenty of people desperate enough to scrounge together their life savings for a mission, it was true, but his mission as described certainly didn't sound like one of those cases. All he'd asked for was a some bodyguards to escort him back home. If he was so worried about bandits and robbers, then why would he spend all of his money on a shinobi team? It would be so much easier, and cheaper, to simply wait for a trade caravan to head off in that direction, and then tag along. He'd still most likely make it home safely, and he would get to keep his money. What, then, was so important that it required the services of trained shinobi?

This all might have sounded like nothing more than paranoia, the sort of thinking an inexperienced shinobi would succumb to their first time dealing with a potential infiltrator, but with this leaf of notebook paper staring up at him from his desk, what was he supposed to think? Still, it was very possible, likely even, that he was completely wrong about this, and so he wasn't about to act just yet. If Tazuna really was nothing more than an alcoholic civilian, it wouldn't do to have him dragged off to Torture and Interrogations. He needed to be absolutely sure about this.

To that end, the Kage reached under his desk and pressed a small black button. He filled his pipe with tobacco as he waited for the response. Right as he was about to light it, two shinobi wearing the standard ANBU flak jackets materialized out of thin air before him, their faces obscured by white porcelain masks.

"You called, sir?" the shorter one asked, her voice even and polite.

"Yes," the Sandaime answered, lighting his pipe. "I need you to watch someone for me."

000

The sun was too damn bright. This was the conclusion Tazuna came to the moment he opened the door of his motel room and stepped into the glare of the day. He squinted blearily in the light of that loathsome ball of fire, his head pounding as he made his way to the street. Honestly what was the point of all that light? It was more than anyone would ever need to see by, and it only lasted about half the day anyway. A steady, measured glow would have made more sense, rather than this constant alternating between blinding light and darkness. The gods must have been as drunk as he was last night to have come up with a setup like this.

He wouldn't have come out at all, if not for the fact that his stomach had started growling at him like one of those nin dogs. He reached into his pocket and fumbled around, the scowl on his face deepening. With the mission funds gone, his remaining cash supply was meager indeed. It wasn't bad enough that he needed to start thinking about begging, yet, but the sooner they found some ninja to take his mission, the better.

For right now, all he needed was someplace that could give him a proper, filling meal without breaking his wallet. There were plenty of small fast food carts dotting the streets of Konoha, but they didn't seem the sort of place where you could get your recommended daily vitamins and minerals. In any case, all that grease and fried batter did terrible things to his aging stomach. The larger restaurants offered a better selection, but of course there was the price issue, and the fact that they probably wouldn't even let someone like him in. The stench of sweat, road grime, and booze didn't exactly whet the appetite.

Tazuna trudged down the wide streets of Konoha, his stomach complaining at him as he cast his eyes about for someplace suitable. Just as he was about to give up the effort and go see if the food carts were selling anything he could keep down, he spied a small open air bar sitting down the street by the side of the road. Several cloth flaps had been hung down for privacy, and the words "Ramen Ichiraku" were written across them in kanji. The bridge builder came to a stop as he regarded the modest stand.

Ramen had never been Tazuna's first choice for a meal, the noodles were always too soggy for his liking, but at the moment he wasn't in a picky mood. So, after a moment's consideration, he strolled up to the ramen bar, pushing one of the flaps out of the way as he stepped up to the counter. There wasn't anyone else here, which was just fine. Having some jackass try and talk to him about the weather while he ate was the last thing he needed today.

As soon as he sat down on one of the stools, a young woman hurriedly came up from the kitchen, brushing her disheveled hair out of her eyes.

"Hello," she gave him her standard polite smile. "What can I get for you?"

"Bowl of miso," Tazuna grunted, tossing a handful of coins onto the counter. The waitress's smile didn't waver in the slightest as her costumer's lack of social grace. She quickly scooped up the coins and bowed.

"Of course, sir," she said, and retreated back into the kitchen. Over the counter, Tazuna could see her walk up to what he assumed was the chef and relay his order. The middle aged man turned his narrow, squinted eyes to the bridge builder and gave him that same customer service smile. Tazuna's lips pursed together as he saw the chef immediately began ladling ramen into a ceramic bowl. They weren't even bothering to cook up a fresh batch? How long had that been sitting there?

The waitress brought the steaming bowl to him, and placed it on the counter before him. She gave another bow, seeming not to notice the wariness in his face as he looked down at his meal. "I hope you enjoy it."

"Sure I will," he muttered to himself. He picked up a pair of chopsticks out of the container as the steam wafted up to him. It didn't smell bad, at least. Splitting his chopstick apart, he brought them down the bowl almost gingerly, as if a rat was about leap out of it. He slowly wound up the noodles around the chopsticks and lifted them, dark broth dripping down into the bowl. He brought the helping up to his mouth, and, bracing himself, he took the first bite.

It wasn't bad. Not the best meal he'd ever had, but certainly the best since he'd left on this trip of his. A sigh rose up in Tazuna, almost involuntarily. How many nights had he spent with nothing but cold rice to keep away the hunger? How long had it been since he'd had a good fish? It all almost seemed like a nightmare he kept expecting to wake up from. One day he was a respected tradesman, living an unglamorous but comfortable life, and the next he was fleeing for his life across the Land of Fire.

It had been no secret that Gatō was not the most scrupulous of people, but the true extent of his criminality, the sheer voraciousness of his lust for power, had come as a terrible shock. When the shipping magnate had bought out or shut down the last of his competitors in the waters around Wave, the solution to his looming monopoly had seemed obvious, at least to Tazuna. A bridge would completely bypass Gatō's ships, meaning that no one would ever have to deal with the bastard again. And what could Gatō do about it? Knock the bride down, or take it over, or block it off? Not after it was completed. Once that happened, the resulting trade would benefit not only Wave, but Konoha as well, giving the Land of Fire a clear interest in keeping the bridge free and open. Gatō might have been powerful, but not even he could stand against one of the Gokage.

Gatō had seemed, for once, to had been defeated, but then came his terrible counterstrike. That short little piece of shit had come waltzing right up into their village with those two wannabe samurai of his. They grabbed Kaiza off the streets as if they were some sort of police force, and tied him up to wooden cross right in the middle of the village in front of everyone.

And then- Tazuna's chopsticks halted over his ramen, his appetite dissipating like the steam that rose form the bowl. Gatō had claimed that he was acting in the country's interest, that Kaiza had undertaken "terrorist actions," against him and his corporation. With Kaiza's murder, Gatō had made his de facto rule over Wave official. That same day, he gave his ultimatum to Tazuna: Halt construction on the bridge immediately, or we do the same to you. Admittedly, he had considered doing exactly that, and would have, if not for Tsunami.

With those onyx eyes of hers flashing, she had demanded that he not give up, that he not let Kaiza's death be in vain. He had protested, explaining that to continue would bring death on all of them, but she'd slammed her fist on the table, silencing him. He could still picture her, with her lips pulled back in a snarl as she told him that dying would be better than living under someone like Gatō. It was the first time she'd spoken to him like that since she was a child. And so, aided by the generosity of their village, they had come up with this last, desperate plan. All he had needed to was reach Konoha and bring some of their shinobi back to the bridge. Then, once he'd explained Wave's plight, and the good things that would surely come to Konoha should the bridge be completed, they'd have no choice but to help. That, at least, was the idea, but only days before reaching Konoha's gates, he had run into a serious snag.

Tsunami had managed to get a letter to him, warning him about some of Gatō's new "employees." Apparently, the magnate had resorted to hiring rouge nin to hunt him down, and these people were no common criminals. One of them was even supposed to be one of Kiri's famed Seven Swordsmen. It wasn't much of a surprise that Gatō had put a bounty on his head, but to go this far? Convincing the Konoha nin to take out a few goons would be one thing, but trained shinobi of this caliber? Depending on the kind of ninja he got, they might not even be able to do it. Even if they could, they certainly would've asked for quite a lot in return, more than he could afford.

Looking over the different mission types Konoha offered had confirmed his fears. Any mission that involved combating enemy shinobi of the rank of chūnin or higher, essentially most shinobi, was automatically a B-rank. Having to fight against someone like this swordsman, Zabuza, would easily push this mission up to an A-rank. Both were far beyond what Tazuna could hope to afford in his wildest dreams, but he hadn't come all this way only to give up now. So, in order to keep the cost of the mission within his budget, he omitted some information. It wasn't lying, exactly. The basic details were the same, he simply happened to forget the part about the deadly ninja assassins after his head. Now, the only difficulty that remained was keeping the Konoha nin from simply turning around and heading back home as soon as they found out. That was going to take a bit of persuading, but it should be doable. Maybe. Hopefully.

Tazuna pushed the half empty bowl of ramen away from him, and rose from the uncomfortable wooden stool. How long had it been since he had a drink? More than twelve hours? He stepped out of the ramen bar, not bothering to give a parting word to the waitress as he did so, and headed down the street in the direction of the liquor shop.

Hidden above him on a rooftop, two masked figures watched him silently before sharing a quick glance. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, leaving only a faint swirl of dust in their wake.

000

"...was that all?" the Sandaime asked of his two agents. The shorter one, wearing a cat mask gave one quick nod.

"Yes, sir. Once he left the liquor store, he went straight back to his room and stayed there," her flat voice was distorted slightly by the mask.

"Hm," Sarutobi's face remained impassive, his pipe held loosely in his hand. "And you're sure he did nothing out of the ordinary?"

"We are, sir," the taller, tiger masked agent spoke up.

"Well then, you are dismissed," he said, dumping the dregs of his pipe into his ashtray.

The two ANBU gave a small, quick bow, and then they were gone. Alone, the Kage's brow began to furrow. The report, as given, was completely mundane, but at the same time it did nothing to quell his suspicion.

Yes, all he did was go out for lunch, but why go to Ichiraku? Of all the places Tazuna might have gone, why did he pick the one restaurant that happened to be one of Naruto's haunts? Ichiraku wasn't exactly expensive, but there were cheaper places to go if you were eating on a budget. It seemed at least possible, then, that Tazuna had gone there looking for Naruto. To what end was a complete mystery, but it was a fortunate thing that the boy had been with Kakashi all day.

The Hokage let out a sigh. All of this was still nothing more than conjecture and hunches. There was still nothing solid to go on, and without that, he couldn't do anything. If he were to take Tazuna in and only later find out that he truly was a harmless civillian, it would be a nightmare. Some of his fellow Kage, who would remain nameless, might have been willing to risk it, but the Sandaime liked to believe that he was better than that.

Three sharp knocks came at his door. "Kakashi is here to see you Hokage-sama."

"Let him in," he answered. The door opened and the masked jōnin stepped into the room, carrying a notebook page.

"Another one?" Sarutobi's voice came out far more weary than he'd intended.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi nodded. "This one is a bit more interesting than the last."

"Let's see it then," the Hokage reached his wrinkled hand out, and Kakashi passed it over.

Sarutobi's eyes quickly scanned over the paper, his frown deepening. This dream almost seemed a continuation of the last one, in that it also featured Tazuna. He, along with Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura-_ why __wasn't__ it Hinata?- _had been walking along a dirt road that cut through a large forest. From the description, it almost seemed like it could have been the road that extended from Konoha out to the coast. Kakashi had apparently been giving some lecture on geography. Then, and this was the part that made it interesting, they were attacked. Two shinobi wielding a long chain as a weapon had leaped out of a pool of water and cut Kakashi to ribbons. As soon as the jōnin had fallen, they turned on Naruto.

The Hokage tossed the paper onto his desk, his face dark. How long was this supposed to go on for? How many more of these terrible, unexplainable nightmares would Naruto have? How many of these pages of notebook paper would pile up on his desk?

No, this was the final straw. Caution be dammed, he wouldn't just sit here and allow this continue.

The Sandaime looked back up at Kakashi. "I need you to do something for me."

000

There had been many times where Tazuna had been afraid since fleeing his home village. That time he'd spotted fresh bear tracks on the road had certainly sent jitters up his spine, as had finding those large jagged claw marks in a tree less than an hour later. When he'd run into that gang of bandits he had been absolutely terrified. Only the fact that he looked too poor to be worth robbing had saved him that day. And, of course, learning that he had elite ninja after his head like some sort of international criminal had made him want nothing more than to curl up and spend the day weeping. None of that, however, compared to the absolute bowl tightening terror that gripped him as he followed this masked Konoha nin into the academy building.

There had come knocking at his motel door maybe twenty minutes ago, while the bridgebuilder had been working his way through a bottle of that same cheap drink. He'd opened the door to find this tall, lanky figure standing before him, his face concealed save for that one gray eye, and it had been all he could do to not gasp out loud. The shinobi had told him that the Hokage had requested his presence, and that it was urgent. His tone had been light, casual even, but something in the way that eye looked at him had told him that turning down this "request" was not an option.

The sun was rapidly sinking in the western sky, passing beneath the high wall surrounding Konoha, which now cast a long shadow over the village. The halls of the academy were silent, and their footsteps seemed to echo from the walls as they made their way through the building.

There was only one reason that the Hokage himself would drag him over here like this. He'd been found out. Tazuna's mouth went dry as they rounded a corner to a hall that led up to a solid wooden door. What was the usual punishment for someone like him? Shinobi weren't known for their sense of humor, or their compassion. What they _were _known for was killing anyone who crossed them. But surely that couldn't be the case, could it? He was only a civilian, and these weren't some renegade band of rouge shinobi. They wouldn't just cut his throat and leave him in a ditch like some common gang. At least, he hoped they wouldn't.

The shinobi standing guard by the door gave the masked nin a curt nod as they approached, and swung the door open for them. The silver-haired man put a hand on Tazuna's shoulder and gave him a small push past the threshold, not hard enough to be considered a shove, but still sufficient to send the intended message.

Stumbling slightly as he entered the office, he found himself before a wide desk. There, sitting behind the desk with his elbows propped upon it and his fingers laced in front of his dark brown eyes, was the Sandaime Hokage. He was a wizened old man, and sitting there he might have even seemed like a small man, but dressed in those full Kage robes and with those heavy eyes focused him, he might as well have been ten feet tall.

"Sit," the Kage ordered, his voice clipped. Tazuna felt himself drop down in the wooden chair almost as if his body was moving of its own accord. He peered warily through his glasses at the Kage, as the masked shinobi stepped into place behind him. In that moment, Tazuna felt a powerful kinship with the lamb that had been dropped into a den of wolves.

"Do you have any idea why I summoned you, Tazuna?" the Hokage asked, his voice gaining that same polite air of the masked man now looming behind him. Tazuna shook his head, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. Whatever the Hokage thought of that answer didn't show on his face, his steely eyes bored into Tazuna's from under that wide brimmed hat, as if trying to look into his brain. The bridgebuilder couldn't meet that intense gaze for more than a second.

"In that case, let me try a different question," the Sandaime leaned forward slightly. "Do you think you can get away with lying to me?" Tazuna flinched back at the words, sweat beginning to form on his brow.

"N-No, of course not," the bridgebuilder stuttered, mentally cursing. He'd been in here for all of five seconds, and the Hokage had seen right through him. Of course, this was the sort of thing shinobi were trained for, but was he really this transparent?

"Then let's start again, shall we?" the Sandaime leaned back, straightening up from his hunched over position. "You've only recently come to Konoha, correct?" Tazuna nodded. "So then, you wouldn't have that many friends or acquaintances in our village, would you?"

"No," Tazuna answered warily. What kind of interrogation was this? The Sandaime gave him that same heavy gaze, and this time Tazuna was able to meet it, if only for a couple of seconds.

"And," the Hokage continued, those eyes never wavering, like a tiger tracking his prey. "Since you're such a busy man, I'd guess you haven't had much time to socialize while you've been here."

"What this all about?" Tazuna's temper finally began to flare. "What the hell do you care about my social life, huh? I don't know why you dragged me here but-"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Sarutobi decided to get to the point. "Do you know him?"

"Uzu-?" a look of bewilderment came over the bridgebuilder's face. "No, I don't know the guy. I've never even heard that name before. Look, whatever this is supposed to be, you go the wrong guy So-" he made to stand up, but two hands on the back of his chair quickly stopped him. The Sandaime's face remained as solid and flat as stone, his eyes glancing down to the mission application form on his desk.

"Let's talk about your mission," the old Kage pressed on. All the anger drained from Tazuna at that, and the earlier gnawing feeling his stomach came rushing back to fill its place. "As I understand, its quite a simple one."

"Guess so," Tazuna said, his eyes dropping to his lap.

"Still," the Sandaime continued, smelling blood. "Even a simple C-rank like this can be quite costly. Not to insult you, but you don't seem to be the sort who can simply throw money around like this."

"I saved up," Tazuna tried to keep from fidgeting. "'Sides, what's it matter to you? Money's money, no matter if it came from a rich man or a poor one."

"I suppose it wouldn't matter to me," the Hokage allowed. "But it would matter to you. This mission must mean quite a lot to you, for you to spend so much of your savings on it."

_Shit, here it comes. _Tazuna gave a small shrug. The Hokage leaned forward in his seat, his eyes almost seeming to burn. "What then, is so important about getting back to the Land of Waves?"

"I just-" Tazuna's heart was pounding against his ribcage, the temperature in the room seemed to increase by about fifty degrees. "I want to get home, alright? I haven't seen my daughter, or my grandson in a while."

Sarutobi regarded the shabby looking man seated before him. There were two conclusions, it seemed, to be drawn from their conversation. First, Tazuna likely wasn't anything more a civilian, and second, he was lying about something. It was the latter conclusion that lead the Hokage to the first. His unguarded, fearful eyes, the utterly obvious way he tried to keep from being snared in his falsehood, said as much. No shinobi, especially not one trusted to infiltrate a Hidden Village, would ever act like this under interrogation. Still, that didn't answer the question of what he was lying about. It had something to do with the mission, that much was obvious, but what? There was something Tazuna wasn't telling him, but-

His eyes flicked down to the folded notebook paper laying at the edge of his desk. Suddenly, something seemed to fall into place. "_Two ninja jumped out of a puddle and went after Kakashi-sensei._" It couldn't be, could it? His eyes shot back up, locking onto Tazuna's. Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Are you sure there isn't something you might have left out when you requested this mission?" the Sandaime prodded. "Something having to do with there being shinobi after you?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," a fresh wave of panic crashed against Tazuna. It was all he could do not to completely break down under the Hokage's eyes. "Why would ninja be after me?"

"I asked you before," the Sandaime said, his voice hardening. "Do you think you can get away with lying to me? I assure you, you can't. I have shinobi under my command that can peel back the layers of your mind like an onion and drag out your darkest secrets. If you don't tell me the truth right now, then I'll have no choice but to turn you over to them."

"Okay! Okay," Tazuna burst out, his thin shoulders trembling. "The truth is, there are ninja after me. A man named Gatō hired them because he wants to keep me from finishing a bridge."

The Hokage's eyes went wide, unmasked shock showing on his features. It didn't seem the most reassuring look to Tazuna, and he held his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Look," he began to explain. "You've heard of Gatō, right? Well the bastard's all but taken over Wave with his shipping company. We thought that building a bridge would break his hold over our country, but he wasn't about to just roll over and let us. So I came here to try and get help, and when he found out, he hired ninja to try and kill me."

"Who, exactly?" Kakashi spoke up, his eye glancing down at the top of the bridgebuilder's head.

Tazuna shook his head. "Some guy, I think he's called Zabuza." Kakashi's eye widened and he shared a glance with the Hokage. Silence filled the room for a long moment, and then the Hokage's face closed off once more, his eyes seeming to gleam in the light of the office.

"Let me see if I understand this correctly," an icy calm came over the Sandaime. "You requested a C-rank bodyguarding mission, knowing full well that any of my shinobi who accepted it would encounter a rouge nin like Zabuza?"

"I-" Tazuna began, but the Hokage held up a hand to silence him.

"Are you even aware of the sort of man Momochi Zabuza is?" Sarutobi's voice was as keen as a kunai. "He is one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, one of the most deadly shinobi produced by Kirigakure in a generation. He is a merciless, remorseless killer who slaughtered over a hundred people when he was nine years old. I can count on one hand the number of people in Konoha who would be able to best him in single combat, and you didn't think to mention it?"

"I didn't, because if I did, then I couldn't afford the mission," Tazuna made to defend himself. "My village pooled together all the money they had, but there was no way I could ask for anything higher than a C-rank. Please," he begged. "If this bridge is built, Wave's economy will boom like nothing you've ever seen, I'm sure of it. You'll make the money back a thousand times in one year."

The Sandaime gave a heavy shake of his head. "It isn't a matter of money. Mission rankings don't just denote price, but also the level of skill required of the shinobi to complete it. For a simple C-rank, like you requested, I would've send a couple of chūnin, or even a genin squad. People as young as twelve or thirteen years old, and, because of your deceit, they would've been marching to their deaths."

Tazuna had nothing to say to that, and sat in silence, his eyes lowered to the floor.

The Hokage sighed, a sudden weariness washing over him. "I understand that you're desperate, and that you didn't intend to put anyone in danger, but I cannot simply brush this aside."

"Then what's gonna happen?" Tazuna's voice sounded smaller and more timid than it ever had since he was a young boy being scolded by his father.

"I'd be well within my rights to have you imprisoned, but, considering your circumstances, I wont do that. However, your mission is rejected, and I must ask you to leave Konohagakure as soon as possible." He tore Tazuna's mission application in half, giving his words an air of finality.

"But what am I supposed to do?" Tazuna asked desperately, his voice thick.

"My advice, if you value your life, is to never go back to Wave," Sarutobi answered. "You'd be better off heading east, to the Land of Wind, or Earth. Now, please, leave."

Tazuna shakily stood, his face crumpled up with misery. The bridgebuilder staggered over to the door and pulled it open. Right as he was about to step out of the office, he paused and turned back to the Hokage. Tears had begun to streak down his cheeks. "You've doomed the Land of Waves, I hope you know that."

The Sandaime gave no answer, but could not meet Tazuna's eyes as the bridgebuilder gave him one last, lingering glare before stepping through the threshold and slamming the door behind him. Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, pushing his hat back from his head as he rubbed his temples. Kakashi stood silently, his one eye still on the door.

That poor bastard. Wealthy clients ordered expensive missions like that without a second thought, but here he was, headed either to a life in exile, or death. It wasn't the first time a situation like this had come up; every once in a while someone would come in begging for a free or reduced price mission, and it basically came down to whether or not there were any shinobi feeling charitable that day. People actually lying about missions was more rare, if only because of how severe the punishment could be. Had Tazuna actually gotten Konoha nin killed with his deception, then the bridgebuilder could only hope that Zabuza killed him before the Hokage found out.

"Kakashi," Sarutobi spoke up, his voice hushed. "Do you understand what this means?"

"Hokage-sama?" the jōnin turned away from the door, his single eyebrow raised slightly at the Sandaime.

"He knew," Sarutobi almost whispered. "Naruto's dreams told him exactly what was going to happen."

Kakashi said nothing to that, his arms crossing as a frown formed beneath his mask.

"Think about the last two dreams Naruto had," Sarutobi urged, his eyes lighting up in the dim office. "First, Naruto demands a C-rank mission, and so I give your team Tazuna's. This results in your team being attacked by shinobi while traveling to Wave. Now," he continued, holding up a finger. "What has happened? A man named Tazuna comes to Konoha and requested a mission exactly like the one Naruto described, and then we find out that this man lied to us about his mission, and that there are rouge shinobi after him. It fits almost perfectly."

"Not perfectly, Hokage-sama," Kakashi attempted a counter. His head had a slight tilt to it which spoke of skepticism. "Tazuna said that Zabuza was after him, and he wields that sword of his. In Naruto's dream we were attacked by two nin who used a chain."

"That's simple," Sarutobi waved his hand. "Two rouge shinobi wielding a chain and using suiton jutsu clearly describes Kiri's Demon Brothers, Gōzu and Meizu. We've known for some time that they're working with Zabuza."

"Well, where does that leave us, then?" Kakashi asked, but he already knew what the Hokage was going to say.

"I don't know how or why," Sarutobi began heavily. "Perhaps it has something to do with the Kyūbi, or it even may be some new, unheard of kekkei genkai, but it appears that Naruto's dreams are prophetic."

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, his frown deepening. "But you do understand how that sounds, right?"

"I do," the old Kage nodded, but did not waver. "But this is not merely idle speculation on my part. Recall the first dream Naruto told us about. He gained knowledge that he had no way of acquiring without reading the Scroll of Seals, and yet the scroll was found untouched. At the time, it had seemed as if there was no explanation for it, but now here it is."

"But," Kakashi aimed for what seemed to be a hole in the Hokage's logic. "Naruto never did manage to read the scroll. If he really was seeing the future, then why hasn't that happened?"

"Why would he need to read the scroll in the first place?" Sarutobi countered, his eyes gleaming like they hadn't done in years. "What would drive him to seek out knowledge of advanced bunshin jutsu? The Genin Exams!" he answered his own question, his face electrified. "His exam required that he perform the bunshin jutsu, something he struggled with. What he must have dreamed about, then, were events that would have happened after he failed the exam. Distraught at this failure, he would have sneaked into my library in search of something to help him, and just so happened to take a scroll with the most powerful bunshin jutsu ever created written within it."

"And yet," Sarutobi's face was positively glowing now. It was if the decades had melted off of him, and he was once again a little academy student learning his first jutsu. "Because he learned Kage bunshin from his dream, he was able to pass the exam, and completely nullify that future!"

Kakashi stared at the Hokage, unable to articulate a response. The Sandaime's argument made more sense than it should have, but still, this was utterly insane. The only thing that kept the jōnin from dismissing the idea was the fact that it was the Sandaime Hokage proposing it.

"What about his other dreams?" he finally asked.

"We can assume that they describe events that haven't happened yet, but-" There was an abrupt shift in the Hokage's face, as if someone had thrown a speeding train into reverse, and that look of almost childlike excitement was replaced by one of dawning horror.

"Is something wrong, Hokage-sama?" a wary concern filled Kakashi's voice.

"Did I tell you about the third dream Naruto had?" Sarutobi's hand went to his forehead. Kakashi shook his head, and the Hokage's eyes closed as if in pain. "He said that he dreamed about being killed by Sasuke."

"What?" the jōnin took a step forward, his face hardening.

"And," Sarutobi added, looking straight up at Kakashi. "He used your Chidori to do it."

Even through his mask, it was clear to see that Kakashi's normally cool demeanor had been completely shattered. He ran a hand through his silver hair, the other clenching into a fist. "Why would he do something like that?"

"I might have an idea," Sarutobi said, all of his age seeming to fall back on him like a pile of bricks. "You are aware, I hope, of the Mangekyō Sharingan?"

"The Mangekyō-?" realization slammed into Kakashi like a blow from a hammer. "_No. _Would he really go that far? He just saved Naruto's life two days ago, how could he-?"

"He hasn't done anything, Kakashi," Sarutobi held up a hand to calm the jōnin. "You can't be angry at the boy for something that hasn't even happened yet."

"But if these dreams show the future-"

"They _may_ show a _possible_ future," the Hokage corrected. "Look at what has happened. Naruto dreamed about stealing the Scroll of Seals, which hasn't happened, and he dreamed about going on Tazuna's mission to the Land of Waves, and now that certainly wont happen. The future isn't set, Kakashi. If Sasuke does try to kill Naruto, it wont be due to some divine fiat, but because he chose to. All we must do, then, is ensure that he never makes that decision."

Kakashi took a slow, deliberate breath. "How would we go about doing that?"

"For now, keep a close eye on him" the Sandaime instructed. "Watch for any change in his behavior, or in how he gets along with Naruto. More importantly than that, you'll have to get some idea of what the boy's thinking. See if he truly is willing to kill someone close to him in order to awaken that dōjutsu."

That was easier said than done. Sasuke was like a blank wall a the best of times, and certainly wasn't the type who liked to talk about his feelings. Kakashi didn't express any of these reservations to the Hokage, however, and merely nodded.

"Good," Sarutobi said, satisfied. The old Kage rose from his seat, and stretched his aching back with a small grunt. "Now then, I'd say it's about time for dinner, wouldn't you?"

* * *

So this is my favorite chapter so far. I'm sure you all can guess why.


	10. Chapter 10

"_I am called __Sabaku no Gaara."_

000

The familiar three sharp knocks of his guard came at the Hokage's door.

"Hokage-sama, Team Seven reporting for their mission."

"Good, let them in."

The heavy oaken door swung open with an audible creak-he really needed to get those joints oiled-and the four members of Team Seven strode in to stand before him. Sarutobi couldn't help but smile at the sight of those three genin lined up in front of his desk. It was a sight the Sandaime had seen countless times during his two tenures as Hokage, and even after all these years it never failed to warm his heart. There was no reason that the new genin teams couldn't get their missions directly from the requests office, but Sarutobi felt that the first few times should be something special. Besides, getting to see these fresh faced young genin take their first steps on the path was something he wouldn't miss for the world.

His eyes glanced past Naruto and Hinata to land on the closed off, impassive face of Sasuke, and that warm smile of his cooled as if someone had poured ice water on it. Of course, this was no ordinary genin team, and their path was destined to be rockier than most, Naruto by himself ensured that. Add in the Uchiha, and that great towering thundercloud that hung over him, and you had a team just about as far from ordinary as you could get. Poor Hinata, the girl likely had not even the slightest inkling of the mess she was in.

"So," the Sandaime brushed away his dour musings, and did his best to put some cheer in his voice. "How are you three enjoying the shinobi life so far?"

"I-It's fine, Hokage-sama," Hinata spoke up. She was the only one to do so. Sasuke offered only the small lift of his shoulders in a shrug, while Naruto crossed his arms and looked sullenly away.

"Is something the matter, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked, but he didn't need to. That look on Naruto's face spoke of a complaint that had been coming since the day he graduated.

Naruto scuffed the heel of his sandal against the floor, his lower lip stuck out in a pout.

"The missions you've been getting so far aren't very fun, are they?" The Hokage expertly poured sympathy into his voice. "For you to be stuck, doing glorified chores right when you've finally become a shinobi, it must be frustrating."

"Yeah, it is," Naruto nodded his head. "It sucks."

"I can imagine," actually, no he couldn't. When he was a genin, Konoha was still young and small enough that its survival was in question. The village couldn't afford to waste trained shinobi on simple labor, and so D-rank missions hadn't even been concieved of yet. Still, he could certainly understand how times of peace, wonderful and precious as they were, could get a bit dull. "So then how about I give you something a bit more exciting?"

"Really, you mean it?" A hopeful look came over Naruto's face, like a dog watching his master eat.

The old Kage nodded, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a smile.

"Awesome!" it was like sunlight breaking through cloud cover. Naruto's eyes were shining with excitement, and it was all he could do not to hop up and down. "So who's ass are we gonna kick?"

"Well," Sarutobi chuckled. "You wont be, er, kicking anyone's ass, but I assure you that this extremely important to Konoha. In fact, it is the most critical mission that will be issued today."

"Wow, so cool," Naruto seemed almost to be vibrating from sheer giddiness. Finally, a real mission!

"Er, if I may ask, Hokage-sama," Kakashi began, wariness clouding his voice. "What exactly will we be doing?"

"This will take you out of the Land of Fire, and into a foreign village, so it can be considered a C-rank. However," Sarutobi let the word hang in the air, thoroughly enjoying the seven eyes locked on him. "that ranking does not begin to describe how absolutely vital this is."

The four members of Team Seven stood waiting with baited breath as the Hokage reached into his robe, his face hard and serious. In one quick movement, he pulled out a small, white scroll, and placed it on the table.

"You four are to take this scroll into the Land of Wind, and deliver it to the Kazekage of Sunagakure."

Naruto stared down at the unassuming cylinder, all of that excitement melting off him. "That's it?"

"I assure you," the Sandaime said. "Despite how simple it may sound, this is no D-rank trash collecting mission. Carrying the correspondence of Kage is an incredible responsibility."

"Hokage-sama, are you sure this is a good idea?" a hint of nervousness was beginning to creep into Kakashi's voice. What on earth was he thinking? "They are only genin, after all."

"Have some faith in your students, Kakashi," Sarutobi admonished, a smirk dancing at the corners of his mouth. "I would only issue a mission like this to those I considered capable."

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto rounded on the jōnin. "We're not just some dumb brats, you know. You're looking at the guy who's gonna be wearing those robes someday!" he pointed at the Sandaime, putting on the most dramatic face he could.

Hinata watched her teammate's display silently, the tips of her index fingers pressing together. If only she could share Naruto's confidence. To her, it didn't make any sense at all why the Sandaime would choose them for a mission like this. There was no way to guess the contents of that scroll, she certainly wasn't about to try using her Byakugan to peek, but she clearly understood the sort of weight it carried. Her father took the security of such missives so seriously that it bordered on paranoia. He would never have trusted anyone other than members of the clan known personally to him and of jōnin rank to send anything more important than a birthday card.

For the Hokage to place such trust in them, in her, could only mean that he was grossly overestimating this team.

"Very well, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, defeated. This seemed like a terrible idea, especially after what they'd learned yesterday. Given that, it would seem like the best course of action would be to keep Naruto and Sasuke safely within the village walls and under close observation. Yet, if the Hokage was doing this, it meant that there had to be some deeper reason for it.

"Good," Sarutobi nodded, satisfied. "The trip to Suna should only take a few days, so I don't expect you to take too long getting back. Oh and Naruto," he glanced sharply at the blond. "I want you to remember that for this mission you will be serving as the face and voice of Konoha. Please, _please, _don't do anything to offend the Kazekage."

"Aw don't worry about me, Old Man," Naruto waved the concern off. "I'm the most polite bastard in this village."

"Right," the Hokage said, dragging out the word slightly. "Well then, you'd all better get going."

"Yeah, let's go!" Naruto pumped a fist into the air and bolted for the door. Kakashi quickly grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and yanked him back.

"You can't run off into the wilderness with just the shirt on your back, you little moron," the masked jōnin scolded. "Before we go anywhere, we'll need to pack some supplies."

"Like what?" Naruto asked, struggling uselessly against his sensei's grasp.

"Food and water, mostly," Kakashi answered, and released his grip on the orange jacket. "We're going to Suna, and that means we'll be spending some time in the desert. So make sure you bring an extra supply of water in some container scrolls."

"Can I bring some ramen?"

Kakashi sighed and rubbed the side of his masked face. "Yes, you can bring some ramen. Now, go home, gather your things, and meet me by the gate in an hour."

000

Any road that one took out of Konoha, no matter which direction one was going, would have you walking through the dense forest for which the village got its name. That great mass of trees spread out over the Land of Fire like moss on a stone, making the land that surrounded the village almost impassible, save for these wide dirt paths which cut through it. A quick look at a map would offer an assurance that it would eventually give way to the broad, flat planes that marked the border to the Land of Wind, but at the moment that didn't seem to be the case. The trees stretched out as far as the eye could see, even if they were Byakugan eyes, and it seemed as if the forest would never end.

"So what's Suna like, anyway?" the question came out of the silence as Team Seven walked along the road, a product of one of Naruto's random thoughts. He turned his head back to look at Kakashi as he walked, his overstuffed backpack jangling nosily with every step.

"Well," Kakashi said, tilting his head up at the pale blue sky. "There's a lot of sand there."

Naruto just about fell over. "I know that. I mean, what's the village like? They've got ninjas and stuff there too right?"

"Of course they do, Suna is one of the Five Hidden Villages, after all," Kakashi answered, his eye drifting lazily from one cloud to the next. A few steps behind him Sasuke trudged silently, the jōnin's words sticking in his head.

Did that mean, then, that Suna also had someone like Naruto? His eyes trailed over to back of the blond's head. Apparently all five of the major nations had at least one such person, and so the same must have been true for Sunagakure. What were the chances they might run into them? Would he even be able to tell if they did? He had been face to face with Konoha's jinchūriki for more than six years now and he'd never suspected a thing. Sasuke frowned to himself. It still didn't seem right, that someone carrying something so monstrous could look so _normal._

"Hey, so when we get there-" Naruto began, but his foot caught in a small pothole, and, tilted off balance by his heavy backpack, he tumbled to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust around him. There came an audible crunching sound as the pack was badly jostled by the fall. His three teammates all came to a halt around him as he pushed himself out the dirt, one hand at his head.

Kakashi shook his head disapprovingly down at his student. "Naruto, you have too much stuff in your backpack."

"But you told us to pack," Naruto protested, wobbly getting to his feet. The pack he was carrying was heavy enough to make him tilt back slightly, and he been constantly readjusting the straps as they dug into his shoulders.

"You weren't supposed to carry it all on your back," exasperation crept into the jōnin's voice. "Why didn't you just store your supplies in a scroll like the rest of us?"

"Oh uh," Naruto gave a sheepish grin, his hand going to the back of his head. "Yeah I'm not so good at that."

Kakashi had no idea what to say to that. Sealing items into container scrolls was one of the most basic fūinjutsu taught, and the only one that could be considered simple. The scrolls came pre-written and with instructions on how to do the sealing. It took no thought at all. For god sake this was Minato's son and an Uzumaki! How could he have such little talent in this area?

"Fine," he reached into his pocket, and tossed Naruto an empty scroll. "One of you two help him."

Sasuke quickly turned away, he wasn't about to cover for the idiot's incompetence. Naruto wouldn't have asked the Uchiha for help anyway, and instead turned to Hinata. With the blond's gaze upon her, color began spreading on her cheeks and the tips of her forefingers began pressing together. There was no one else around to aid Naruto, however, and so she gave a small nod.

"Cool, thanks Hinata," he grinned at her, before looking down at the scroll in hand. He scratched the side of his head. "So what do I do?"

"F-First, we have to open it and lay it down flat," she said, repeating word for word what she'd learned in the academy. Naruto slid his finger under the seam of the scroll and picked clumsily at it. He frowned. This was worse than a brand new roll of toilet paper. Finally, he managed to get a proper grip and pulled it open, revealing the squiggly ink strokes of the seal. As Hinata instructed, he laid it down on the ground, right in the middle of the empty road. He looked up expectantly at the Hyūga.

"Now," she said, that warmth on her cheeks seeming to intensify under those shockingly blue eyes. "You place the items you want to seal on top of it."

"Okay," he slung the backpack from his shoulders and pulled the zipper open. A couple cups of ramen tumbled out, their orange labeling almost as garish as Naruto's jacket.

"How many of those did you bring?" Kakashi asked, eying the mass of dark orange threatening to burst from the backpack.

"Enough," Naruto answered defensively, stacking the cups on top of the scroll. That stack would quickly be joined by another, and then another until the paper of the scroll was entirely obscured under a great pile of ramen cups. The backpack lay slack, its mouth hanging open to reveal that there had been nothing else inside. Looking at all those boxes now, it was difficult to imagine how Naruto had managed to fit them in the pack without it bursting at the seems.

"Didn't you bring any water?" Kakashi peered into the empty backpack.

"There wasn't any room," Naruto waved off the question, before turning back to Hinata. "Anyway, what's next?"

"Ah," she tore her eyes from the sprawling collection of ramen. Would all those even fit in the scroll? "All you need to do it focus some of your chakra into the scroll. The seal should do the rest."

This was the part Naruto had been worried about. Attempting to do this had never gone well for him in the academy. He fidgeted slightly. "Uh, can you do it?"

"No," Kakashi said, holding out his arm in front of the Hyūga. Receiving instruction was one thing, but for Naruto, a trained genin, to be unable to do something as simple as this? It was unacceptable. Since becoming Naruto's sensei Kakashi had discovered that the boy was utterly incompetent at the simplest of things. Basic taijutsu, ninjutsu, chakra control, things that any other shinobi would know as a matter of course were beyond him. It was like finding a composer who didn't know the difference between a C note and a B note. "You can't just let people do things for you. This is one of the most basic shinobi skills. You should know how to do this."

"But-"

"Do it yourself, Naruto," the jōnin's tone brooked no argument.

"Okay," Naruto looked nervously down at the end of the scroll that was still exposed under the pile of containers. He made the ram seal and began pooling chakra into his hands. The first bad sign, to Kakashi, was when the boy's hands actually began glowing a faint blue. To be able to actually see a person's chakra without a dōjutsu indicated that it must be quite strong. Too strong, in fact, for this simple task. The second came when Naruto pulled his hands apart and chakra seemed almost to arc between his palms for a second. Yes, this was definitely too much chakra, far, far too much.

The jōnin was already stepping away from his student in anticipation of the impending disaster. It came a moment later, right as Naruto touched his hands to the scroll. All at once there was loud _bang _thatrang out through the woods as the ramen cups all exploded. Naruto took the brunt of the blast, and was knocked flat on his back, but Hinata and Sasuke were close enough to be hit by the shrapnel, in this case shards of dried ramen noodles. A thick, brown cloud hung in the air, coating them all in the stench of miso.

Naruto blinked, dazed, as his sensei stood over him. Kakashi looked down expressionlessly at the genin, his silver hair tinged just the slightest shade of orange.

"Alright, let someone else seal your equipment from now on."

000

The sun had long since slipped beneath the horizon, and without its overpowering light covering the sky the stars had their chance to shine. With no buildings or artificial light to obscure the view, the field of stars stretched out with no end. Far beneath that infinite expanse, a modest campsite sat within a small clearing some distance away from a road.

With the coming of dusk Kakashi had suggested they stop and find a spot to spend the night. They had passed a small inn some time before, and Naruto had wanted to turn around and head back to it, but Kakashi quickly vetoed that idea. The jōnin had explained that they couldn't afford to waste time backtracking, and that they needed to get used to sleeping outdoors if they were going to be shinobi, but that hadn't been the whole story. He'd brought them, instead, off the road and into this tiny break between the trees of this seemingly never ending forest.

Hidden on his perch in one of the trees that surrounded the clearing, Kakashi sat with his nose buried in his copy of Icha Icha Paradise. He wasn't giving the material the attention it deserved, as he kept himself ready in case of an attack. He didn't think it likely that one would come, but, on a mission like this, it didn't hurt to be cautious. That little white scroll seemed almost to be burning through his pocket, and he found that it actually took some willpower to keep from taking it out and looking it over.

What on earth had been going through the Sandaime's head when he assigned them this mission? Obviously, there was some sort of plan or deeper motivation, but what could possibly justify sending a genin team out on a mission like this? The line of communication between two Kage was one of the most closely guarded and valuable things in the world, especially when it was between the Kage of two allied Hidden Villages. Any shinobi from Iwa or Kumo would cheerfully slit all of their throats to get their hands on this scroll. Why then, did the Hokage think it acceptable to send a single jōnin with three barely out of the academy genin tagging along?

And to think that the Sandaime had told him that being a sensei would be a low stress assignment.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of bright orange standing out against the night. Naruto was sitting on a tree branch some distance away, that jacket of his still as loud as ever even in the dark. The genin had spent all of his time after dinner-a spare meal Kakashi had thought to pack just in case- walking up and down the trunk of the tree he was now sitting in. Kakashi had told him that he needed to practice his chakra control, but Naruto didn't need any urging. He'd spent almost every free minute yesterday running up the sides of walls and trees, stopping only when someone had come out of one of the buildings he'd been scaling and started shouting up at him. It was amazing, really, to see him progress so quickly. The so called dead last of the academy had actually managed to give Sasuke a run for his money at this, and yet he couldn't even use a basic container scroll.

Eventually he'd finally seemed to run out of steam and took his spot on the tree branch. He'd hardly moved since, and had been gazing up at the sky for the last couple of hours. It was getting late, and Naruto should've been asleep by now, but Kakashi wasn't about to go over and explain that to him. If he wanted to spend all of tomorrow groggily trekking across the Land of Fire that was his business.

A small movement from the campsite caught Kakashi's eye, and he glanced down to see Sasuke sitting up from his bedroll. The Uchiha was turned away from him, staring up at Naruto. A moment passed, as he seemed to be contemplating something, and then he rose. Kakashi tensed up slightly in spite of himself as the dark-haired genin began climbing his way up the tree, but he made no move to intervene. It wasn't as if Sasuke would do anything while he knew the jōnin was watching. Still, what exactly was the Uchiha intending?

As it turned out, Sasuke didn't really know himself. He'd been laying in the thin sleeping bag, completely awake, and simply happened to spot Naruto sitting on that branch staring up at the sky with an expression he'd never seen on his teammate's face before. The blond's face looked as if he were lost in thought, contemplating something. It didn't suit him at all. He'd quickly rolled over and tried to ignore him, but even now when the noisy brat was silent, that was impossible. It wasn't long before Sasuke found himself looking back up at his teammate, and mentally scolding himself for doing so.

They hadn't talked at all about the Kyūbi, never said a single word to each other about it. Since that night, they'd simply gone back to their usual roles, pretending that everything was normal. And, really, why shouldn't they? What would they even have to say to each other, and why should he care? It shouldn't be any of his business. Of course, it was, Kakashi had made that very clear. Of all the things Sasuke had expected to happen when he awakened his Sharingan, this had certainly not been it. Still, there was this vague, amorphous feeling that he needed to care about this. It was, in some sense, his mission to care, even if that mission had been foisted on him without his knowledge or consent.

All of this had lead to him climbing the tree Naruto was perched in, and sitting himself on one of the branches adjacent to the blond. Propping his elbows on his knees, Sasuke glanced over at Naruto. He hadn't seemed to notice the Uchiha at all, his face still tiled upward at the night sky. Bathed in the dim starlight, Naruto looked mesmerized, as if there was no one else in the world around him. It suddenly seemed that way to Sasuke too, there was no wind, not event he chirping of cricket, nothing except for the sound of his own heartbeat.

"Nice job with the scroll," Sasuke finally said, breaking the silence. Normally he didn't mind the quiet, but this had become almost unbearable. Naruto was a loud person, that's just who he was, how he was supposed to be.

Naruto blinked and turned away from the stars. He looked at Sasuke as if this were the first time he'd ever seen him. "Huh?"

"The scroll," Sasuke repeated, turning his gaze back to the treeline. "How did you manage to screw that up?"

"Oh," Naruto shrugged. "Sorry."

Sasuke's eyes snapped back to the blond, only to find that he'd already gone back to staring at the sky. That had not been the intended reaction. Normally, that sort of goading would set Naruto off like an explosive tag. He never could stand being mocked, especially not by Sasuke, and at any other time he would've been stomping his feet and shaking his fist by now. So what the hell had gotten into him now? Naruto had always been a nuisance, and he should've been glad that for once the brat wasn't acting like his usual self, but this seemed all wrong. Naruto's face almost seemed slack, as if he'd been put under a genjutsu.

"What are looking at?" Sasuke asked, once again trying to drag things back to normality.

Naruto didn't answer for a moment, and the Uchiha thought that he might not have heard him, until his voice came, hushed and low. "The moon, it's full tonight."

"...So?" What was so fascinating about the moon? Sure, it might have looked pretty, if you cared for such things, but was that giant boulder hanging in the sky really worth this sort of attention? Had he really been staring at the thing all this time?

"I don't know," Naruto said, his voice far away. He turned back to look at Sasuke, and the Uchiha had to stop himself from jumping back. It might have been a trick of the dim light, but in that moment it looked as if Naruto's pupils had narrowed into slits. "There's just something really beautiful about the full moon, you know?"

Sasuke turned his gaze away, suddenly unable to meet Naruto's eyes. "Hn."

000

The Hyūga compound was one of the greatest prides of that clan, second only to the Jūkenpō. Out of all the buildings in the village, only those of the compound perfectly maintained the traditional architectural style used before the founding of the Hidden Villages. Yes, there were some others that came close, but none could quite match up to the absolute majesty displayed by the home of the Hyūga. At least, that is what any of the clan would say. Whatever the veracity of the Hyūga's boasting, there was no denying that the Hyūga compound was a marvel. It had been constructed only a few decades ago, but to walk within its walls, to see its fastidious traditionalism, one would be forgiven for assuming that it was far older.

At first, Sakura had been completely taken in by it all. Seeing the old style wooden structures and the stoic Hyūga in their kimonos had been like walking through history. She could almost imagine that she wasn't in a modern village, but rather in one of the Hyūga's old strongholds from before the Senju-Uchiha truce. When she had entered the main courtyard, the sight had almost taken her breath away. On the surface, it wasn't quite so impressive, a simple training yard for sparring adorned with a single modest tree off in the corner, but Sakura had been utterly transfixed by it. There was something about it, a certain serenity, that had made her sorely regret the fact that she hadn't been born a Hyūga.

Now, however, as she painstakingly worked her way through tangle of overgrown branches with her clippers, and those dour faced Hyūga watching below, all of that envy had evaporated like fog under the hot sun.

"Yo, Sakura!" Kiba called through the branches from the other side of the tree. Above him, Akamaru was cheerfully hopping from one branch to the next, oblivious to his human teammates laboring below. "There's a whole bunch left near the top. Can ya get up there?"

"Why don't you do it?" she called back irritably. Honestly, if he could see the parts that needed pruning, then why didn't he climb up there himself?

"Aw, come on," the Inuzuka pleaded, hanging down from the branch to look at her. "You're lighter than me and some of those branches don't look like they can take a lot of weight. You don't want me to fall, do ya?"

"I wouldn't lose any sleep over it," she grumbled, but began climbing her way to the top of the tree, the branches bowing under her weight. Near the peak of the tree, the branches were indeed slimmer, and with no ladder to stabilize her, she was forced to angle awkwardly out of the branch to get to twigs that needed pruning. It occurred to her, as she balanced wobbly on one the narrow branch, that the risk of falling out of this tree made this the most dangerous mission she'd been on since becoming a genin. The last few missions had been nothing more than simple menial labor, no more challenging than the daily chores expected of anyone her age. Kiba had been complaining almost nonstop about it, but she could only feel relief. She had read the history of the Third War, how shinobi as young as her had gone out on missions with little hope of returning. If she'd been born only a decade earlier then, instead of simple gardening, her first mission could have been her last.

She leaned out further to get at a loose twig stick out of a branch right above her, and at that moment Akamaru came leaping right for her, with that blissful look in his little doggy face. The ninken's head crashed right into the small of Sakura's back, throwing her off what little balance she had. With a small yelp, she went tumbling down through the branches, twigs scraping at her arms. Right as the ground rushed up to meet her, she abruptly stopped, the hard ground less than a foot from her face.

"Are you alright?" Yūhi Kurenai asked, righting her and putting her back on her feet.

"I-I think so," she said, her voice shaking slightly. She rubbed her hands over the scratches on her arms, before looking up into the ruby eyes of her sensei. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei."

"Whoa, what happened?" Kiba called down, loud enough for his voice to echo through the courtyard.

Sakura grit her teeth, a vein standing out on her temple. "Why can't you control that stupid mutt?" she shouted back just as loud.

"Hey!" the Inuzuka's voice filled with outrage. He quickly dropped down to the ground and stalked up to the pink-haired girl, trying to stare her down. "Don't talk about Akamaru like that."

"Your dog almost got me killed!" she shot back, undaunted by his warning. "Why the hell did you even bring him? He hasn't done anything!"

"You-!" Kiba began, but their argument was abruptly ended as Kurenai's hand was put between the two of them.

"Calm down," the red-eyed jōnin admonished. She fixed a disapproving stare on the Inuzuka, her arms crossing over her chest. "She's right, you know. Akamaru did knock her out of the tree. If I hadn't been here she might've gotten seriously hurt."

Kiba looked away from his sensei, a hint of shame appearing over his face. "'M sorry."

Satisfied with that, she turned her attention back to Sakura, and the scratches that by now were beginning to bleed.

"Here," she said, taking one of the girl's arms. She held her open hand over the row of wounds and a faint green glow appeared in her palm. The scratches immediately stopped bleeding, and in another few seconds they'd completely healed.

"You know medical ninjutsu?" Sakura asked as Kurenai moved on to the other arm. Out of all the various types of jutsu, this had always been by far the most fascinated to her in the academy. Something about using chakra, mainly utilized as a weapon, as an instrument of healing appealed to her. It seemed appropriate, poetic even.

"Only the basics," Kurenai answered, releasing Sakura's arm. She stood and looked down at the younger kunoichi. "I've always had good chakra control, and that meant either medical jutsu, or genjutsu. I dabbled a bit with the former, but ultimately I decided to focus on genjutsu."

"Why?" the question came out of Sakura's mouth before she was fully aware that she'd asked it. It wasn't like she intended to be rude, but really, why genjutsu? It might have been interesting simply because of how intricate some genjutsu could be, at the end of the day it was nothing more than simple misdirection. Where was the romance in illusions? Still, saying as much to someone who had clearly devoted so much time to it, and who was also her sensei was about as impolite as one could get. "Er, I mean-"

"Why didn't I want to be like Tsunade?" the jōnin finished for her, her expression souring slightly. "Every kunoichi graduating out of the academy wants nothing more than to follow in her footsteps, right?"

"Um, I guess so," Sakura shifted uncomfortably. There was a hint of accusation in that question, the faint glimmer of disapproval.

"I used to feel the same way, you know," the jōnin's tone softened, and a look of sympathy came over her. "Back when I was a genin, all I wanted was to be the next Tsunade. We all heard of the lives she saved during the war, the countless people who would've died from Suna's poisons if not for her, the families forever in her debt. Who wouldn't dream of being like her? Well, one day I broke my leg on a mission and spent some time in the hospital, and while I was there, I noticed that some of the nurses used medical ninjutsu. I asked them about it, and do you know what they said?"

Sakura shook her head, her brow creasing slightly.

"They told me that they had all been kunoichi who'd tried to follow in Tsunade's footsteps, but, since they could never be as good, they'd all just quit. Can you believe that?" a fire had sparked in Kurenai's voice, one that Sakura hadn't heard from her sensei before now. "All these people joining the ninja ranks just to end up stuck under that woman's shadow, didn't they have any dreams of their own? I swore, then, that would never be me, and so here I am."

"I see," was all Sakura said, her gaze dropping to the ground. Where had all that come from?

"Well," Kurenai coughed awkwardly. "Why don't you go help Shino sweep out front. I think Kiba can handle the rest of the tree by himself."

"Yes, sensei," Sakura nodded, and made for the sliding door.

"Hey, where're you going?" Kiba called down as she pulled the door open, Akamaru now seated firmly upon his head. "There's still a whole bunch left up here."

"Let Akamaru do it," she called back, and slid the door shut.

The interior of the entrance building was quite plain compared to those in which the main, or even branch families lived, but it still held that same peaceful quality, the same feeling of distant springs that had passed long before her birth. Without Kiba or his dog to distract her, it was almost like dipping into a cool pond on a summer's day. She strolled out to the front entrance to the compound, breathing in that mild air which carried the scent of incense to her. By the time she got to the front door, she almost didn't want to open it. Yes, life as a Hyūga would be nice, as long as she didn't have to prune any more trees.

She slid open the front door with some effort, it was quite a bit heavier than the others, and stepped outside to meet her other teammate. It seemed as though Shino had already finished out here, and stood leaning against the outer wall of the compound, utterly silent as usual. As it happened, he wasn't alone. A young girl, a Hyūga if her eyes were any indication, was sitting on the steps leading up to the entrance. Upon hearing the door open she'd twisted around to look at her, giving Sakura a clear view of her face. It was a little hard to tell, since all the Hyūga looked so similar, but she was sure that she'd seen this one before.

"You're Hanabi, right?" Sakura ventured. "Hinata's sister?"

"I am," the younger girl answered, a hint of caution in her voice. "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, uh," Sakura turned her eyes away. "I was just wondering, because Hinata's on Team Seven, right? Do you know where they are right now?" Sakura hadn't seen Sasuke at all since they'd been separated into teams. Maybe if they finished up here quickly enough she could go track him down. Perhaps their time apart had left him missing her as much as she missed him.

"They've left Konoha," Hanabi said. "Hinata told me that Hokage-sama had sent them on some mission to Suna."

"What, really?" Sakura couldn't hide her surprise at that. Weren't all the new genin teams only supposed to be doing simple D-ranks? Then why would they be leaving the Land of Fire to go to another Hidden Village? "Do you know why?"

"No," Hanabi stated, a frown forming on her small face. "Hinata wouldn't tell me."

"Oh," Sakura's eyes shifted away from the young Hyūga. She let her eyes wander a bit over the front entrance to the Hyūga compound, a wide, flat row of steps flanked on both sides by the trees which bore her namesake, before falling on Shino. The Aburame hadn't seemed to notice her presence at all, in fact he almost looked asleep. She scowled at her teammate, and was about to go over and give him a shove, when Hinata's sister spoke up again.

"What do you know about Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked the question with all the politeness of an interrogator.

"Naruto?" Sakura blinked at the question, before a small frown formed on her face. "He's just some boy from the academy. Why?"

It was Hanabi's turn to break off her gaze, and her eyes went to the concrete steps. "He's on Hinata's team."

"Right," Sakura said, cringing internally. The poor girl had never seemed very formidable. She could only imagine how Hinata was coping with having someone like him on her team. "Well," she said aloud. "I'm sure she'll manage."

"What do you mean?" Hanabi asked, a perturbed look came across her features.

"Uh, well," Sakura hastily made to explain. "Naruto's not exactly the nicest person to be around. I don't want to sound mean, but he's actually kind of a brat."

"Huh," Hanabi tilted her head slightly. "That's strange."

"What is?"

Hanabi's pale eyes broke of from Sakura's. The Hyūga wasn't sure that it was okay to be talking about this with a stranger. Hinata had never directly told her that it was secret, but still. "Hinata looked happy to be on his team."

"Oh, really?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at that. She had never really talked much with Hinata, no one had, but the heir of one of the noble clans of Konoha surely wouldn't have much patience for Naruto.

"Are you sure Naruto's like that?" Hanabi pressed, skepticism in her voice.

"I had to be around him for six years," Sakura said, crossing her arms. "Of course I'm sure. What's got you so interested in him anyway?"

"Hinata-" Hanabi paused, looking suddenly uncomfortable. She gave a small shake of her head. "Hinata told me, once, that she admired him."

"What?" Sakura's eyes went wide. Admired? _Naruto? _What could she even make of this information? Why in the world would Hinata-?

"Well, look who it is," a familiar, grating voice dragged Sakura out of her thoughts. At the base of the steps, looking up at her with that smug little smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth, was Ino. "Hey forehead-girl."

"What are you even doing here?" Sakura demanded, feeling her pulse begin to quicken. "Shouldn't you be with your team right now?"

"Oh come on, Sakura," the Yamanaka heiress swaggered up the steps, passing Hanabi and closing in Sakura. "I haven't heard from you in days. Aren't we supposed to be friends?"

"No, we're not," Sakura stated coldly, leveling a stony gaze at the blonde.

"Honestly," a mock hurt poured into Ino's voice. "And to think I came up here to see how you were doing. I mean, you didn't take your team assignment very well, after all."

"You didn't get put on Sasuke's team either," Sakura retorted quickly, her temper beginning to bubble. She wasn't going to let Ino dance around the point, insulting her without actually saying anything insulting.

"So what," Ino's smirk never left her face. "I was probably never going to be put on his team anyway. In any case, it doesn't matter. Someone as smart a Sasuke can't help but notice me. You, on the other hand…"

"Shut up," Sakura glowered darkly at her rival, her hands forming fists at her sides.

Ino's laughter was like splinters under Sakura's fingernails. "You know it's true. When was the last time he said more than a single word to you? Why would he even pay attention to someone so bland? Face it, he's out of your league."

Sakura smouldered, a vein standing out on the back of her fist, but said nothing. There was no denying the truth to the Yamanaka's words. Sasuke never had initiated any of their brief conversations. She always made the first move, only to meet a brick wall. It was like he didn't even care that she existed. For god's sake, even Naruto apparently had an admirer, while she was stuck here pining for someone who hardly seemed to notice her at all. She felt something beginning to boil in her chest, rising up and making her heart pound. And now Ino, popular, beautiful Ino who could have any boy she wanted was going to gloat about stealing her love away? It was the last straw. She wouldn't just stand here and accept it, she _couldn't_.

Ino stalked up the pin-haired girl, absolute superiority written on her face. She leaned to face Sakura. "Maybe he'd notice you if didn't look like a boy."

The fist came at Ino's face like a thunderbolt, only her reflexes keeping it from landing square on her nose. She jerked to the side, feeling Sakura's knuckles graze past her cheek. The Yamanaka hopped back, instinctively taking up a defensive stance.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she shrieked at her rival. Sakura took a step toward the blonde, her fury finally boiling over in her green eyes.

"This ends right now!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. She raised her fists, sliding into the standard academy kata. "I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your face!"


	11. Chapter 11

An absolute, almost palpable silence had fallen over the streets. No light came from the buildings to cut through leaden darkness of the night. Only the moon hanging far above gave even the dimmest glow, casting deep, inky shadows across the ground. The air was still, seeming almost to press down on him. He crept through the narrow streets, the houses towering above him on both sides. Where was everyone? It wasn't so late that there should be no one else out here, yet the streets had been completely deserted.

No, not deserted. There was single figure, half in shadow, leaning against a wall by the side of the road. Why were they just sitting there like that? He rushed over to the man, waving his hand. He was about to call out, but the words died in his throat as soon as he saw the blood. It spread down his chest like spilled ink on paper, and in the darkness it looked like pitch. His eyes trailed up from the wound, to the head with glassy eyes staring out through half lidded eyes, and his stomach seized up. He quickly averted his eyes from the sight, something sour and acid welling up in the back of his mouth, only to find another body sprawled in the middle of the street.

His heart pounded against his ribs, like a raging caged beast, and the taste of bile in his throat threatened to spill out over his tongue. Breath hitching in his lungs, he took one step back from the scene, before breaking out in a full sprint down a side alley. He had to get home, to find his mother and father. They would know what to do. He just needed to get to them it would all be okay.

The streets rushed by him in a blur, but he could still see the figures of bodies strewn about like unwanted dolls, the puddles of dark blood reflecting the moonlight. Each one was like a knife wound in his belly, and by now he could feel wetness streaming down his cheeks. He forced himself not to look, to keep his head down as he ran, but not even averting his eyes could stop the way stomach roiled and swam like the sea during a hurricane.

His home came into view at last, a great manor perched in the heart of the district. The windows were dark like the others, and an icy dread ran through him as he barreled through the front door. He met total silence, the air seeming to cling to him like a thick cloud. The entrance hall was dark and empty, and no one came to greet him. A thought flickered up in the back of his mind as he crept forward, urging him to call out, but his voice had abandoned him.

Then, there came a dull thump from one of the adjacent rooms. He rushed towards the source of the noise, ripping open the sliding door, and froze at the sight that met him on the other side.

His brother stood in the center of the room, his face as cool and impassive as ever. Blood dripped from his unsheathed blade, fresh and bright crimson against the shadowed room. And there, laying at his feet in a spreading puddle of that same blood, was- Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan eyes flicked almost lazily to him, and it was if the bottom had dropped out beneath him. Everything seemed to drain out of him, leaving him a hollow shell. He couldn't even cry.

"Why?" the question came out on its own, his tiny, hushed voice echoing in the room. "Why did you kill them?" He knew the answer to that already, had heard it ring through his skull countless times.

His brother stared at him with those red, unblinking eyes. "I didn't. You did."

Sasuke's gaze plummeted to the floor, and his heart froze in his chest. In his parents' place was the figure of Mizuki, blackened and charred by the flames of his jutsu. Those burnt, shriveled eyelids flicked open, revealing the same Mangekyō eyes of his brother spinning in the sockets. Before he could scream, the room melted into darkness.

000

A strangled, almost whimpering cry rang in Sasuke's ears as he awoke, his eyes flicking open to greet the pink and orange of the dawn. He wildly cast his gaze around, lurching into a sitting position in his sleeping bag as he tried to locate the source of the noise. The Uchiha's eyes landed on Naruto, staring down at him from his spot atop a flat gray boulder, his head cocked to the right.

"You okay?" the blond called, a hint of concern tinting his voice. "Did a spider crawl into your sleeping bag or something?"

"What?" Sasuke asked groggily, squinting up at his teammate. Why did everything seem so oddly clear, and why was Naruto shimmering like that?

"You just woke up screaming, moron," Naruto answered, hopping down to the dry, barren earth. He stepped over to Sasuke and leaned down to peer into his eyes, his face coming almost uncomfortably near. This close Sasuke could actually see his own red eyes reflected in Naruto's pupils, and he quickly turned away.

"Was it a nightmare?" Naruto straightened back up, that same concern in his voice. "Must've been a pretty bad one, to make you freak out like that."

"Just be quiet," Sasuke grumbled, shaking his head and cutting off the steady trickle of chakra to his eyes. "It's none of your business."

He opened his eyes to find Naruto still staring down at him, something approaching sympathy written on his face, and Sasuke felt his temper rise. "Go away," he ordered.

Naruto frowned at the Uchiha, shaking his head and turning his back on him. "Awake for two minutes and already an asshole," he muttered to himself as he went back to his stone seat and dropped down upon it.

Sasuke didn't bother giving a retort. He pushed himself to his feet, already dressed save for his sandals, and felt the cold, rocky ground bite into the soles of his feet. As he began rolling up his sleeping bag, he could feel more eyes on him and turned his head to find Kakashi staring him. The jōnin was watching him over the pages of that orange book of his as he leaned against one of the massive boulders that surrounded their campsite. He didn't seem all that embarrassed to be caught looking at his student, and let his gaze linger a moment longer, before his single gray eye slid down to his book.

The Uchiha scowled to himself, his pride rankling at the situation he'd been put in. Why did those two think his dreams were any of their concern anyway? Surely they'd had nightmares before, so why did they find his so interesting?

He slipped his sandals on and tore open one of his container scrolls, sealing the bed roll inside. Jamming the scroll into his pocket, he trudged over to the black smear on the ground which marked the remains of last night's campfire. Sasuke's eyes trailed over the charred ground, and forced back a shudder as the image of Mizuki's burnt form drifted past his mind's eye. Chastising himself, he brushed it away.

The fire had been a small, pathetic thing, there being nothing in the way of decent firewood out here past the border of the Land of Wind. As such the only thing available for breakfast that morning were some onigiri they'd packed back in Konoha. Sasuke normally wouldn't have minded, but this was all they'd had yesterday, and the day before that as well. Frankly, it was beginning to wear out its welcome. But there was nothing much to be done about that until they reached Suna, certainly they couldn't hope to find a sushi bar out in the middle of the desert.

So resigned, Sasuke plopped down next to Hinata, who sat by the plastic container and was already nibbling on one of the rice balls.

She quickly swallowed at his approach and looked up to greet him. "Ah, Good morning, Sasuke."

Sasuke gave a grunt in reply as he grabbed one of the onigiri from the clear plastic tub. He took a small bite and frowned as he chewed. He had no idea where Kakashi had gotten these from, but it certainly wasn't the same place he frequented. There weren't terrible, but still, he was pretty sure that he could make better onigiri himself. It didn't help that they weren't exactly fresh, and by now the cold rice was beginning to harden.

"Ugh," Naruto said, wrinkling his nose as he looked down at the two of them. "How can you stand those things?"

"They're better than ramen," Sasuke countered in between bites. As unappetizing as these particular rice balls might've been, they did still beat that miso garbage that Naruto had brought with him.

"That's a load of crap and you know it," Naruto fired back, crossing his arms stubbornly. "You just have unrefined tastes."

"Wow, who taught you that word?" Sasuke's tone was as dry as the rice he was chewing on.

"I know words," Naruto defended himself, his brow furrowing. "Like 'fuck' and 'you.'"

Sasuke shot a glare up the blond, but said nothing. It was too early to be dealing with him right now.

Naruto stared down at him for a few seconds longer, expecting a response, but when it didn't come his attention began to wander.

"Hey," he said, looking over at Kakashi. "Do you know if they have ramen over in Suna?"

"Why?" Kakashi asked, his eye still locked on his book.

"'Cause, I haven't had any since the, uh, accident," he explained. "You've been there before, right?"

"I have," Kakashi said evenly.

"Then come on," Naruto urged. "Do you know any good places there or what?"

"Even if I did, it wouldn't matter," Kakashi said, his eye still tracing the lines of text. "We're not going there to see the sights. We're on a mission, and as soon as we've completed it, we're leaving."

"What?" Naruto almost shouted, dropping down from his perch and kicking up small cloud of dust at his feet. "We can't stay there for just a little while?"

"No," Kakashi answered, his voice flat. He flipped the page of his book.

"But why?" Naruto whined, a pleading look in his eyes. "We've been out here eating this crappy food and sleeping of the freaking ground for days now! Can't we just spend one day there?"

"I already told you, no," Kakashi repeated, he didn't raise his voice or even change his tone, but it was plain that further argument would go nowhere.

Naruto scuffed his sandal in the dirt. "This sucks. This was supposed to be a cool mission, but it's just more of the same crap. The Old Man should've just sent a mailman."

Kakashi ignored the boy's complaints, his eye scanning over the pages of Icha Icha Paradise. He wasn't really taking the story in, but that hardly mattered to him at this point. This was the first book in the series, and he'd already read it multiple times over the years, yet whenever he went out on a mission, he always brought it along. He flipped the page of the book again, and let his eye drift over the text. The truth was, had they been going almost anywhere else, he wouldn't have really minded taking a day or so to rest, but they weren't headed anywhere else. They were headed to Suna.

Officially, Konoha and Suna were allies, but no one was willing to tell the people of the Hidden Sand that. The Second Shinobi War, little more than history to Konoha, still cast a long shadow over that village. Suna had been an enemy of Konoha during that war, and that had resulted in the most catastrophic defeat in the admittedly short history of the Hidden Villages. It was well known that the generation of Konoha nin that fought during the Second War had been the finest in the world, producing such legends as the Sannin and Kakashi's father. With such power on its side, Konoha had torn through the ranks of Suna's shinobi like so many training dummies. Faced with the mounting casualties, Suna had even resorted sending fresh genin into the field, who only managed to get themselves killed even quicker than their more experienced comrades.

The Land of Wind, already the least populous of the five great nations, had never fully recovered from those losses. Suna today still had fewer active shinobi than before the war, lines of trade had been cut and never reestablished, and the wealthy customer base that propped up a peacetime shinobi economy had all but fled Suna. Only the genius and sheer power of the Sandaime Kazekage had kept the village from being swallowed up by the sands, and even then only just. And, of course, the people of Suna had been quick to identify Konoha as the source of all their misery. The passing of years had only given them the opportunity to nurse their grudges, to sow the seeds of hatred into the next generation. Whatever any piece of paper might have said, the people of Suna and Konoha were not friends, and the less time they spent in that village wearing their Konoha headbands, the better.

"Alright," Kakashi said, flipping his book closed. He stepped away from the boulder and cast his eye east, where this great rocky field continued, as if some deity had strewn these enormous stones across the border like so much gravel. "Suna's not too far away now, and if we hurry, we can get there today. So, let's get going."

000

"Oh my god, how can it be this hot?" Naruto complained out loud. The sun had arced its way across the sky, going ever more intense as it did so. It now hung directly over Team Seven, glaring down as if it had a personal grudge against them. Sand stretched away in every direction, seeming to go on forever, even behind them, and grains were more than willing to reflect the light and heat back up. The effect was to make it fell as if they'd stepped into some giant oven.

"We're in a desert," Sasuke said, his voice cool, but the sweat dripping down his brow told that he wasn't doing much better in this sweltering air. "What did you expect?"

"Yeah, but this is crazy," Naruto waved his hands over his head as he walked. "Like, just yesterday were in that country with all those rice paddies and that fog. How can it just suddenly turn into all this?" He gestured out over the vast sands.

"There's actually a story about that," Hinata spoke up, more to herself than either of them.

Naruto turned his gaze behind him on her. "Really? What is it?"

"Ah, w-well," Hinata stuttered, lowering her eyes. She'd taken her jacket off hours ago, the heat really was unbearable, and now wore only her black t-shirt which was about two sizes too big for her. Still, having Naruto's eyes on her without that familiar beige shield left her feeling like she'd accidentally walked on stage in her pajamas. "They say that the Land of Wind wasn't always a desert."

"Then how'd it get like this?" Naruto pressed.

The Hyūga looked down at her fingertips pressing together. "It was Shukaku."

"Who's Shukaku?" the blond tilted his head.

"One of the legends of Suna. A demon that's said to be one with the sand," Kakashi abruptly entered the conversation, from behind the three of them. He was staring out over the sands to the horizon, his book nowhere to be seen. He frowned slightly under his mask. Hinata shouldn't know about the Ichibi. Talking about the other bijū besides the Kyūbi wasn't exactly forbidden, but most people knew better than to go blabbing about that sort of thing. It seemed that Hiashi was more talkative than he'd thought.

"And he made all this?" Naruto prodded, his curiosity piqued.

"That's what the stories say, anyway," Kakashi said, keeping his gaze focused off in the distance. "Apparently, some time long ago all of this used to be green plains, and sprawling forests dotted all over with lakes that seemed to never run dry. They say it was a paradise. Well, Shukaku wasn't too happy with that, so he ripped apart the plains, tore down the forests, and used his sand to soak up all the lakes. He turned the land into a massive desert, and it's been that way ever since."

"Is any of that actually true?" Sasuke asked, skepticism in his voice. To turn an entire country into a desert, was even the Kyūbi that powerful?

"Probably not," Kakashi admitted, still watching out over the sands. "There's all sorts of stories about Shukaku. Some even say that he the vengeful spirit of a drunken monk. It's all just a bunch of old ghost stories, really."

"Oh," Naruto's disappointment was clear on his face. That story had actually sounded kind of cool. "But then where did this desert come from?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It's been here for as long as anyone can remember. The rain just doesn't seem to like this country."

"Yeah well, I'm pretty sure no one likes this country," Naruto said sourly. He took a swig of his canteen, grimacing at the warm, metallic water, and wiped his brow with his sleeve. "God, it's hot."

"You're the one who wanted to wear a jacket in the desert," Sasuke shot at the blond, sick of his whining.

"Thanks, _mom,_" Naruto fired back, glaring at the Uchiha walking next to him.

"He's right, you know," Kakashi said. "Out here, you want to keep as cool as possible."

"But how are people gonna recognize me without it?" Naruto asked, a frown tugging down his lips.

"It'd be better if they didn't," the jōnin answered. He held his hands up in a resigned shrug. "But, if you want to die of heatstroke, then I guess that's your problem."

"Fine, I get it," Naruto grumbled, defeated. He unzipped the loud orange jacket, sighing in relief as the breeze fluttered in over his torso. He folded the heavy jacket up, and tied the sleeves around his waist, his step seeming to become light almost instantly.

Hinata glanced over at her blond teammate, her pale eyes tracing over his form. She'd known from their earliest days at the academy that Naruto had been a very slim child, but seeing him now was still something of a shock. Even after six years he looked as scrawny as ever. Hadn't he grown at all? With the jacket on, one could look at him and see a healthy, if short, twelve year old boy, but now that illusion was shattered. It honestly seemed as if an academy student from one of the lower years had tagged along with them. If not for the fullness of his whisker-marked cheeks, he'd look positively sickly, but how could that be? He certainly never acted sickly. Heck, he was the only one of the three of them who had enough chakra to make Kage bunshin. So then why did he look so _small_?

Naruto felt the Hyūga's eyes on him and turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Um, n-nothing!" Hinata said quickly, dropping her eyes to the ground as a red hue dotted her cheeks.

"Oh, I get it," the corner of his mouth pulled back in a smirk. "Now that the jacket's off, you're trying to get a look at the goods, right? Well," he made a pose he'd seen once in a back alley. "See anything you like?"

"No! I-I mean- That's not- I was just-" Hinata looked as if steam was about blow out of her ears as he stumbled over her words like a clown doing pratfalls.

Naruto burst out laughing at the sight of the Hyūga, tilting his head back as his narrow shoulders bounced. He waved at her with one hand while wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "Relax, I was just screwing with you. Geez, you freak out worse than Iruka-sensei."

Hinata crumpled in on herself, turning her head away from the source of her humiliation. The Hyūga's eyes fell to the ground, and she searched for convenient spot to curl up and die. Naruto frowned slightly at her reaction, but simply shook his head turned his attention ahead.

Kakashi kept his attention on the horizon, the shimmering sheet of air that rippled in the distance. Outwardly, he appeared as unconcerned as his students, but in reality his ever never was as a taut as piano wire. The sands of the desert had spread farther and thicker as they walked, until there was not even the barest hint of road to guide them. The risk of getting lost, however, was not what the jōnin as tense as a mousetrap. The real danger was in what the sands might be hiding. Any Iwa nin, or anyone familiar with doton jutsu, could easily use this sand to sneak up on them undetected, and leap out at them from under their feet exactly as he'd done to Sasuke during the bell test. It was a relatively simple trick, but damn if it wasn't effective. A skilled jōnin could have them all imprisoned in less than a second. He might have been fast enough to avoid such a strike, but these genin that the Hokage had insisted go on this mission with him certainly weren't.

The masked nin let his eye glance down at Hinata for a moment. He'd asked the Hyūga exactly how long she could use that Byakugan, and she had given him an estimate of one hour before chakra fatigue set in. That had been less than encouraging. The last Hyūga Kakashi had worked with before Hinata had been a fully grown adult, and a jōnin. He had been able to keep his dōjutsu active almost from sunrise to sunset. It was hard to overstate the protection that had afforded. Nothing could sneak up on him, no one could avoid his sight. It was like having a whole army of people scanning every inch of their surroundings. Hiding from the Byakugan was about as close to impossible as one could get, and they'd never for a second had to worry about being caught off guard on missions. If only he was with them right now.

But he wasn't, Hinata was, an inexperienced genin barely two years into her second decade of life. It really came down to resource management, in this case the resource being Hinata's chakra. If he made her keep her Byakugan active as they walked, she'd quickly run out, and then be completely useless if something did happen. Which left him staring out over the sands with his single, mundane eye, ready to nudge Hinata's shoulder if he noticed something.

Missions like this gnawed away at the lining of the stomach. That endless waiting for it to happen, hoping desperately that it didn't, Kakashi had been feeling the beginnings of ulcers form all throughout the mission, but this final stretch across the desert was by far the worst. Any gust of wind, or shift of sand could signal the opening strike, what sounded like a lizard crawling under the loose grains could in fact be an assassin after their precious cargo. Kakashi kept telling himself not too worry, that the Hokage wouldn't put them in any serious danger, that this really was nothing more than a simple C-rank. The shinobi nations were, technically, at peace, after all, and it wasn't as if Iwa and Kumo had shinobi out scout their rivals' territory anymore. His brain seemed to agree with him, but his nerves didn't and neither did his roiling stomach.

Honestly, what was the Sandaime thinking? There had to be something else to this mission, something he couldn't see, but what? What else could it be but what it looked like, which was an incredibly dangerous mission far beyond what any genin should be taking. The Hokage had to know what an incredible risk this was, so why do it?

That question, mixed with his mounting tension as the desert rolled past his eye, writhed and squirmed within him like a pair of angry snakes. It was a very lucky thing he was wearing that cloth mask over his mouth, or else some of that stress might very well have shown on his face.

By the time the great, towering mountain which marked the entrance to Suna rose up over the rolling dunes, it was all Kakashi could do to keep from sighing with relief.

The sheer, flat face of that enormous mesa towered above the flat, barren sands of the surrounding country, the sheer breadth of it devouring their view as the approached. Nothing, not even the Hokage mountain, came close to matching the sheer scale of this incredible mass of stone. Looking up at the mountain, its sandy colored face glowing in the afternoon sun, it was difficult not to feel like one of the Aburame's kikaichū crawling under a boulder. Just ahead of them, the mountain split open, as if cleaved in half by a sword, revealing a deep canyon which led to the village proper. A meager, but steady trickle of people flowed in and out of the mouth of the gap, their dark skin hidden beneath shawls, turbans and long, flowing robes.

"Alright," Kakashi said as they passed into the canyon, the small, adobe structure of a guard post planted some distance ahead, right before the city proper. The shadows cast by the sun stretched long between those high rocky wall, a small pebble leaving a long dark streak behind it. "Here's what's going to happen. We're going to go up to that guard post, explain why we're here, and they'll take us to where we need to go. Then, we do what we came here for, and leave. So, from now on, just keep quiet and stay near me at all times, and everything should go smoothly, understand?"

He kept his voice low, but the sparse collection of people hanging around Suna's front gate on a hot afternoon were hardly the most attentive sort. One decrepit man, who made the Hokage seem positively spry, shot them a dirty look upon noticing their headbands as he hobbled by, but that was the extent of the scrutiny they were subjected to. Kakashi strolled up to the earthy structure, keeping himself as relaxed and nonthreatening as possible. Behind the gaps in the metal grate of the guard booth, a Suna nin sat, boredom written on his face. But upon seeing another shinobi approach, and one wearing a Konoha headband at that, his features quickly hardened.

"What is a Konoha nin doing here?" he demanded, his voice icy. His brown eyes held that same edge to them that seemed universal among the shinobi of Suna. It looked like he could cut someone with only a glare.

"We've come with a message from our Hokage, to be delivered to your Kazekage," Kakashi answered, all business, as he stared down at the guard.

The guard narrowed his eyes as he glanced behind the masked jōnin to the three genin clustered together. "And what message is that?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Come on, you know how this works. I can only show it to the Kazekage himself."

The guard stared up at the jōnin, peering into his masked face. Kakashi stared back, his single eye unwavering. Finally, the guard looked away with a snort. "Well, good luck with that. Kazekage-sama isn't in the village right now."

Kakashi frowned under his mask, and crossed his arms. That the guard was willing to tell him that indicated that he didn't consider them to be a threat, which was good news in itself, but that hadn't been what he'd hoped to hear. "Then when will he be back?"

The guard gave a small shrug. "Whenever he sees fit to return."

"You can't really expect us to just wait here for him," the silver-haired nin scowled.

The guard leaned back in his chair, that look of boredom already returning to his face. "Does that look like my problem? Find an inn, or something," he waved toward the village. "Or go camp out in the desert. Makes no difference to me."

"Does that mean we get to stay?" Naruto looked up at his sensei, as hopeful as a stray puppy.

The jōnin sighed. "I guess we don't really have a choice."

Naruto whooped and pushed past Kakashi, placing his hands of the steel grate. "Hey, you. Where can I get some ramen in this place, huh?"

The guard wrinkled his nose. "How should I know? I don't eat garbage like that. Now, piss off, all of you."

Naruto puffed up in outrage, but before he could say something that would get him in trouble, Kakashi grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him along. Naruto shook his fist at the mud colored building as he was dragged through the mouth of the canyon into the village of Suna.

000

"You can't be serious," Ino said, lowering her arms. She gave an uneasy half smirk to the pink-haired girl before her. "Right?"

Sakura gave no answer, her breath coming in short pants as the adrenaline worked its way through her. Had she really just tried to punch Ino? It had almost seemed like she had simply been watching her fist swing forward, like her body had done it on its own. A part of her, a big part, was already scolding her for having done something so foolish. Who did she think she was, Kiba? Or Naruto? This wasn't proper, wasn't how a kunoichi should behave. She clamped down on the doubt welling up in her, tried to focus on the anger that had made her lash out at Ino.

"Come on," Ino urged, taking a step forward. "This is stupid. I'm not gonna fight you."

"Why? Are you scared?" Sakura attempted to goad the Yamanaka, but even in her voice it was clear she was wavering. Seeing Ino standing there with her arms crossed, and that disapproving look on her face drained her resolve. She was suddenly painfully aware that she was standing in a fighting stance right in front of the Hyūga compound with three people looking at her.

"Sakura," Ino said, sounding more like an angry teacher than her former classmate. "Seriously, knock it off already."

"You just don't want to fight me because you know I'd win," the pink-haired genin made one last attempt to get under Ino's skin. It was clear from the empty bluster in her voice that she didn't believe that herself.

"Okay, I don't know what the hell's gotten into you, but I'm not playing along," Ino turned away and began walking back down the stone steps. The Yamanaka glanced behind her. "You need help, Sakura, like really bad."

Sakura could do nothing but watch the blonde's ponytail swish back and forth as she strode away. Her eyes fell the ground, and she wanted nothing more than to sink into the gray stone and stay there forever. She could feel the eyes upon her, but she couldn't bring herself to face them. She was about to take off running back to her house, lock herself in her room, and spend the rest of her life huddled under her bed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She dragged her head up to find Kurenai at her side. To see the frown at her sensei's lips, to see the tinge of disappointment in those red eyes, it was like staring into the face of her own shame.

"Sakura, what was all that about?" the jōnin's voice carried only a hint of scolding, blanketed by concern like a mother lecturing a disobedient child. Somehow that only made it worse.

Sakura shook her head, her eyes misty. "I-" she let out a sigh and brought a hand to her cheek. "I don't know."

Kurenai wasn't satisfied with that answer. She grabbed the girl by the wrist and gave a gentle pull. "Come with me."

Sakura complied wordlessly as the jōnin led her down the steps. At first, Sakura assumed her sensei was going to take her to Ino, but Kurenai took a right at the bottom of the steps, while Ino had gone left. They made their way around the outer wall of the compound, obscured by a long row of trees which stood like the Hyūga's personal sentinels. They came to a small, empty path connecting two larger roads, and shadowed by the tall, broad trees. All that adorned the small path was a single bench built right against the trunk of one of the thicker of the trees.

"Sit," Kurenai instructed. Sakura seated herself on the hard wood of the bench, crossing her arms as a sudden chill came over her in the shade. The ruby eyed jōnin stared down at her student, crossing her own arms. "Now, I need you to tell me why you just attacked a fellow kunoichi."

"She was making fun of me," Sakura cringed to herself as she spoke. Saying it out loud made it sound so childish and stupid. Had she really almost gotten into a fight over something as trivial as that? She braced herself for Kurenai to start telling her off any second now.

"About what?" Kurenai asked, her face almost thoughtful. The question caught Sakura completely off guard. Surely she wasn't about to take this seriously? She'd done a stupid thing, they both knew that, so why not simply dole out whatever punishment she had in mind and be done with it?

"About Sasuke," Sakura said, dropping her eyes to her lap. "She said that I'd never get to be with him."

Kurenai's frown deepened. She suspected that might've been the reason, but that didn't make it any less troubling to hear. The Hokage had told her that Sakura had something of a crush on Sasuke, but to be getting into fights over him?

"You must really like Sasuke, for you to react as you did," the jōnin said.

Sakura gave a small nod, her eyes still fixed on the backs of her hands folded over her lap.

"But, that doesn't make this okay," Kurenai continued, disapproval edging into her voice. "I can understand schoolgirl crushes but-"

"It's not just a crush," Sakura's head snapped up, her mint eyes shining. "I love him."

Kurenai was taken aback at the girl's sudden fierceness, but she quickly recovered and gave a shake of her head. "Sakura, you're twelve years old. You can't know something like that at your age."

"But I do," Sakura was adamant. "I know what everyone says about puppy love and youth and all that, but this is different. I know what I feel. We're meant to be together."

"Really." Kurenai didn't look convinced. "And how does he feel about this?"

Sakura's resolute expression crumbled at the question, and she found she couldn't meet her sensei's eyes. Of course she had no answer, that was the reason all happened in the first place. Sasuke didn't care about her in the slightest, and it seemed there was nothing she could do.

A pang of sympathy went through Kurenai at the girl's miserable display. She uncrossed her arms and stepped forward to take a seat next to Sakura. She placed a hand on Sakura's back as the genin seemed to curl in on herself.

"It's not fair," Sakura said, her voice thick. "I've tried to show him my feelings so many times, and it never works. I've asked him out on dates, given him card. I even wrote this stupid love poem one time. He didn't even bother to read it before he threw it in the trash."

"Well, maybe that should tell you something," Kurenai suggested. "If he's not interested in you, then maybe you should move on."

"No, I can't" Sakura shook her head, giving the jōnin a clear view of the tears running down her cheeks. "This has been my goal since I met Sasuke. It's my dream, and I've been trying to make it come true for as long as I can remember. I even-" Sakura's voice cracked as a sob welled up in her throat. "I even gave up my best friend to be with him. That's how much he means to me. And now he's off on a different team, so I can't even talk to him."

Kurenai bit back a sigh. If only she'd known how bad this had gotten earlier. Why dd kid have to be so dramatic about everything? She had made her pestering of that poor Uchiha boy sound like a great tragic romance. Kurenai herself never had much experience with teenage romance. She'd thrown herself so completely into genjutsu that she simply hadn't had any time for boys. She hadn't so much as gone on a date until she was nineteen, and that was fine with her. If Sakura was the example of young love, then, as far as she was concerned, she'd dodged a shuriken.

The jōnin looked down at Sakura as she wiped her eyes. Perhaps that was what she needed.

"You're going about this all wrong," Kurenai said, drawing the girl's attention.

"Huh?"

"You say you've been chasing Sasuke all this time, and it hasn't worked, right?" the jōnin questioned. Sakura gave a small nod. "Well, when a tactic isn't working, what's the smart thing for a shinobi to do?"

"Try a different one?" Sakura offered. Her brow creased. "But I've already tried everything I can think of. What else is there?"

"You've only tried chasing after him," Kurenai corrected. "And since that hasn't worked, then you'll have to get him to chase after you."

"But he wont," Sakura countered. "He's never chased after anyone. He's just not like that."

"Maybe," Kurenai tilted her head. "Or maybe he just hasn't found what he's looking for yet."

"Looking for?" Sakura repeated, looking up at her sensei.

"It's what all shinobi are looking for," Kurenai explained. "Something every boy his age is attracted to. Something that his clan prized more than anything else."

"And what is that?" Sakura's voice was hushed. Could this woman really have the answer she'd been searching for all this time?

"It's power," the jōnin answered.

"Power?" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "You mean strength and skill, that sort of thing? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Think about it," Kurenai prodded her student. "Why is Sasuke training under someone like Kakashi? Why did he push himself to become the best student in his class? Why did he join the academy in the first place? He's chasing after power. And so he's only going to be interested in people he considers powerful."

"But I'm not powerful," Sakura looked down. "Definitely not as powerful as him."

"That's where you're wrong," Kurenai said, a smile at the corners of her mouth. "Sasuke might've been the best student in general, but do you know who outclassed him when it came to academic knowledge? It was you. It's just like you said, power is a combination of strength and skill, and in terms of skill, you're way ahead of everyone else. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call you a genius. All you need is the right training to put that skill to practical use."

"And you'd train me?" Sakura asked, looking back up hopefully.

"Of course," Kurenai nodded. "But if we do this, then you have to put every bit of yourself into it. No slacking off, no quitting halfway through. Unless you're willing to go all the way to the end, don't bother taking the first step. So, think you still have it in you?"

"Yes," Sakura said resolutely. If it was for Sasuke, then she'd march to hell and back.

"Good," the jōnin gave a warm, approving smile, which then shifted into the beginnings of a smirk. "Sasuke's probably thinking that with his Sharingan, there wont be anyone able to match him in genjutsu. You're going to prove him wrong. By the time we're done, you'll be the best damn kunoichi this village has produced in a generation."


	12. Chapter 12

Mornings always came late to Suna. The enormous mountain walls reaching high above the earthy mass of buildings ensured that the village would be blanketed in shadow long after the sun had peeked over the eastern horizon. It wasn't until the sun had almost reached the zenith of its arc through the sky that its rays finally spilled over the wide mouth of the mesa, the belated dawn pouring its sweltering heat into the cavern like boiling water. It was the heat, that boiling, searing inescapable heat which, more than any outside threat, made the towering ring of mountain necessary. Despite the Land of Wind's reputation, there were places in that vast country that were actually tolerable, pleasant even. Suna was not one of those places. The dun colored village had risen up in what was considered one of the hottest places in the land, indeed in the entire known world.

Temperatures in the summer were high enough that a person wouldn't need a fire to fry their eggs, a sheet of polished steel under the sun would do. The placement of the village had come about as a result of needing some large presence in the east, lest other nations decide to eat away at Wind's territory, but it left the country's center of wealth and power stuck in a place that was widely considered inhospitable. And so the village had been built indoors, or at least as close to it as could be managed. The Shodai Kazekage had carved the cavern out of the mesa himself, using f_ū_ton jutsu of such incredible power that no human had rivaled it since. Millions of years worth of erosion had been accomplished in only a single day.

That was what Suna's history books said, but for Kankurō, it was nothing more than a story. He had no way of knowing if the tale was anything more than propaganda, a story that had been cooked up to inspire reverence of the Shodai Kazekage. The Shodai Hokage had grown an entire forest in the heart of the Land of Fire, healing a land which had been scarred by countless battles and earning the unceasing adulation of his people. It would make sense that some envious old councilor would have made up a similar story about their own Kazekage to try and capture some of that adoration. But, there was no way for him to confirm that either way, and so he brushed off the thought as he made his way down the front steps of his father's house. What mattered in the moment was that the sun had not yet crawled over the mountain, making this the perfect time to get some practice in without sweating his ass off.

He shifted the bundle on his back as he made his way down the narrow, dusty street. Karasu had been pretty sluggish since that last mission when they'd been caught in a surprise sandstorm, which was just one more wonderful thing about the desert that made the mountain necessary. Of course, Karasu had been designed with the desert in mind, which was why he was still functional at all, but there was no getting around the fact that sand and the intricate joints of a puppet didn't get along. Even after all the grains had been cleaned out, all the little scrapes they left behind on the once smooth metal had the joints sticking and scraping against each other. He'd known, from the moment the wind kicked up and that wall of brown had suddenly appeared on the horizon, that he was going to have to get new joints.

Anyone in the Puppet Corps would've told him that pristine, perfectly working joints are as crucial as blood in a living creature, perhaps more so, and that he'd be better off simply replacing them than attempting some makeshift repair job. Kankurō had made a go of it anyway. New parts were getting more expensive all the time, and it was better to simply make what one had work than constantly be shelling out for replacements. If he had to head for the equipment shops every time a part broke, he'd have to give up on puppeteering altogether. Besides, it wasn't like he was some stupid kid playing with his first snake puppet. When he'd first gotten Karasu it had been little more than a simple training puppet, well made to be sure, but nowhere close to being usable in real combat. He had taken that simple piece of wood and steel, and turned it into an instrument of death. Even the head of the Corps had been impressed upon seeing just how many weapons he'd managed to cram into Karasu.

Yet, for all of his skill installing new parts, repairing them proved to be more of a challenge. No matter how he cleaned or polished, the joints refused to work as they should. The limbs had made a terrible scratching sound as they moved, and they seemed almost to tug back against his chakra threads, as if Karasu had suddenly come alive and wasn't too happy about that weirdo in the black bodysuit controlling him. It had taken being knocked flat on his back by a gust Temari's giant tessen to get him to admit that a repair job like this was still beyond him. And so, he'd begrudgingly gone and gotten a new set of joints, cringing for his wallet when he was handed the bill. He'd just finished installing them the night before, and now it was time to see if they were really worth all that ryō.

Kankurō frowned to himself as he approached the entrance to the training court, the violet paint around his lips stretching. The sound of sandals slapping against the hard concrete of the court emanated clearly over the high beige wall. Was that Temari in there? No, there was none of the usual whooshing noise that marked her training sessions. The puppeteer bit back a curse as he stalked toward the entrance. Anyone who knew anything about him, which was admittedly not that many people, knew that at this time of day he liked to train at this particular courtyard. And even if they didn't know him, it wasn't hard to see him practicing in the same spot and at the same time every day and put two and two together. So then who was it who had decided to take his spot anyway? He scowled to himself. Probably some new genin who didn't know any better. Well, if that was the case, then the only thing to do was to _enlighten _the poor ignorant kid, so as to ensure he never made this mistake again.

He rounded the entrance to the yard, putting on his fiercest expression as he did so, but the sight before him wiped it away as easily as his face paint. Within the courtyard were two pairs of shinobi, squaring off against each other in a taijutsu spar. Three of them looked to be about his age, but one, facing away from him against a boy with hair so blond it made Temari's look positively white in comparison, was clearly a fully grown man. He was lazily knocking away the boy's wild blows with one hand, the other holding open what appeared to be a small book. Even from a distance, the puppeteer could see the blond's headband, emblazoned with that unmistakeable leaf symbol. The frown on Kankurō's face deepened, and he took a cautious step forward, deliberately letting his sandal scrape against the cracked stone.

The adult, with the shock of silver hair immediately spun around, catching the blond's fist behind his back as he did so. Kankurō had to admit he was taken slightly aback at the sight of the man, with the cloth mask over his face and his own Konoha headband tilted over one eye. The puppeteer was no stranger to masking his own face with his paints and such, but even by his standards this was going overboard. Only a single gray eye was left exposed, and was now fixed directly on him.

"Can we help you?" the masked Konoha nin queried, his voice airy.

"Yeah," Kankurō took another step, his hand gripping one of the straps on his shoulder. By now, the other three were watching him warily. He met each of their stares in turn, his gaze lingering on the pale eyes of the girl to the far left, which even here in the Land of Wind were unmistakeable. "I'm wondering what a bunch of Konoha nin are doing in my spot."

"This is your spot?" the silver-haired man tilted his head slightly. "As far as I'm aware, this courtyard is open to everyone."

"Everyone from Suna, sure," Kankurō rebutted, turning those sharp eyes of his back to the masked man. He kept his gaze as hard and unwavering as he could, but the truth was he was at a serious disadvantage and he knew it. Not only was he outnumbered, but for a fully grown man to be sparring with a bunch of kids meant he must be their jōnin sensei, which in turn meant he didn't have a chance in hell against him if it came down to it. All he really had going for him was that, since they were openly walking around the village with those headbands, they were probably here for peaceful reasons. All he needed to do was puff himself up enough, and they'd most likely piss off without too much fuss.

"Come on," the jōnin held an arm wide. "There's no need for that. There's plenty of room here for all of us."

Kankurō chuckled and shook his head. "No, there's really not. You see, I have a very specialized sort of training," he reached behind his head and patted the bandaged puppet strapped to his back. "And it tends to take up a lot of space."

Kakashi frowned underneath his mask. Coming out here like this had been a bad idea from the start, for exactly this reason. It had been only a matter of time before they ran into someone who just young and brash enough to not realize what a monumentally stupid idea it was to pick a fight with a foreign envoy of shinobi. He stifled a sigh. There was nothing to be done. If this kid didn't want to share, then they would simply have to leave.

"What the hell's your problem?" Naruto spoke up to his side, stepping forward. "We got here first, so just find your own damn spot."

"Or what?" Kankurō sneered at the younger boy. "You gonna try and make me leave?"

"You bet I will, jackass," Naruto flared up, his blue eyes flashing. He moved to take another step, but Kakashi brought his hand down on his shoulder.

"No," the jōnin said, shaking his head. "You wont."

"What?" Naruto whipped his head up at his sensei. "Why not? This guy's an asshole and you know it. Come on, you said I needed to practice my taijutsu anyway, right? So just let me pound on this jerk a little."

"Don't you remember what I told you?" Kakashi squeezed the genin's shoulder. "We're here on a mission, and that means you can't go around acting like a moron. And it definitely means you can't get into fights with one of Suna's shinobi."

"But-" Naruto began to protest.

"That's final," Kakashi's tone hardened. "Now come on, all of you. If he doesn't want to share, then there's nothing we can do about it." He pushed Naruto toward the exit, his two teammates following.

Kankurō grinned viciously after them as they filed out of the courtyard, looking for all the world like an overfed cat in that pointy-eared hood of his.

Naruto twisted his head to glare at the Suna nin, but with Kakashi shoving him along, he couldn't do more than that.

"Bastard," he grumbled to himself, as his sensei escorted him down the narrow dirt road.

000

The office of the Kazekage, unlike that of the Hokage, was not built into a school. Rather it was housed within its own building, a round, earthen colored structure that rose out of the ground like a bubble in dough. Guard towers, rising seamlessly out of the ground as if molded from clay, surrounded the building, Suna nin in their gray flak jackets watching the throng of people below. Naruto had never seen a prison before, but when he'd walked through the open mouth of the entrance, two dour looking guards at each side, he imagined that they must look something like this.

Inside was more of that tan, earthy color. Not even a simple layer of paint covered the bare, plain walls of the Kazekage's place of business. Naruto could almost hear the structure beginning to crumble, like a sandcastle that had dried out under the blistering sun. The hallways were as devoid of people as there were of decoration, and they met not a single soul as they walked. If the guard hadn't nodded them through the front door, they'd be forgiven for assuming the office was closed.

"So, uh, what're we doing here?" Naruto asked Kakashi as they made their way though the barren halls of the administrative building. "The Kazekage's not back yet, right?"

"No," Kakashi said, looking ahead. "But since you can't spend an hour down in the village without getting into fights with people, we should probably just stay here and wait."

"What, you mean sit around this place doing nothing?" Naruto tone carried his disbelief. "But that's so boring! It could take days for him to get back."

Kakashi was unmoved. "I guess you should've brought something to read, then."

Naruto crossed his arms and scowled to himself as the four of them came to what passed for the lobby of the building. It was nothing more than a cube cut out of the hardened sand, adorned only with simple metal furniture. The room was completely empty, no guards or even a secretary could be found within the hollow, dun cube.

"Wh-Where is everyone?" Hinata asked, hushing her voice hushed, as if she were walking through a graveyard.

"The Kazekage isn't here," her sensei answered. "Which means there's no reason for anyone else to be here either. If I had to guess, I'd say they're all off taking their business to the Suna council."

"Then why are we here?" Sasuke piped up, glancing around the still, barren room.

"Because this is the first place the Kazekage will go once he returns," Kakashi explained, his tone reaching just short of condescending.

"So we're gonna sit here in this empty-ass room and do nothing?" Naruto demanded throwing his hands wide.

"That's the idea," Kakashi replied cheerfully.

Naruto stared, outraged, at the jōnin, but then merely slumped his shoulders. He trudged over to one of the dark, wrought iron benches and plopped down upon it.

"I don't know why you're complaining," Sasuke said as he took a seat on the opposite bench. "We wouldn't even be here if hadn't shot your mouth off to that guy."

Naruto shot a glare at the Uchiha. "He was being an ass and I'm not gonna take any crap from guys like him." He crossed his arms defiantly. "Kakashi-sensei should've just let me kick his ass."

Sasuke scoffed. "You wouldn't have lasted a minute against him. Didn't you see that puppet he had with him?"

"A puppet? You mean like a toy?" Naruto asked derisively.

"How did you ever get out of the academy?" Sasuke wondered aloud. "Haven't you ever heard of Suna's Puppet Corps?"

"No, I haven't," Naruto scowled at his teammate. "But whatever. So he has some dumb hunk of wood. I'd just smash it and then do the same to his face."

"Sure," Sasuke shook his head, smirking. Naruto wouldn't have sounded so confident with one of those poison-tipped senbon sticking out of his neck.

Naruto looked ready to say something about that intolerably superior look on the Uchiha's face, but right at that moment, his stomach grumbled audibly, loud enough for everyone to hear it. A coloring of red came to the blond's cheeks and he fell silent. Breakfast that morning hadn't been what Naruto would call filling, just a single rice ball that he'd managed to force down, and so far Kakashi hadn't allowed him to go looking for something more appetizing. In fact, the jōnin hadn't allowed them to do anything since coming here. Even their training in the courtyard had only come about because he'd made enough of a stink about being cooped up in that tiny inn that Kakashi had simply reached his wit's end and capitulated. But that had been the only concession Naruto was able to wring out of the silver-haired jōnin.

All throughout this journey, Kakashi had watched over the three of them, but especially him, like a hawk, never letting them out of his sight for more than a brief moment. Even as he sat there now, flicking idly through the pages of that book of his, Naruto could still feel Kakashi watching him, as if he was about to catch fire at any moment. The genin scowled at he stared at the dark orange cover of Kakashi's book. This was his first real mission as a shinobi, and Kakashi was acting like he wasn't up to it. Well, no more. He was hungry, and so he was going to go out there and find himself some ramen, Kazekage be damned.

Only, how was he supposed to get away from Kakashi? The jōnin got quite a bit of mileage out of that single eye of his, and in this empty, open room sneaking away was out of the question. He needed to get somewhere private, somewhere Kakashi's gaze wouldn't follow, and that was easier said than done. The jōnin was so vigilant that it bordered on voyeurism. Hell, the only place he wouldn't follow would be- Naruto suddenly grinned to himself, the answer laid out before him.

Rising from his seat, he made for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kakashi asked, looking up at him from his book.

"I gotta take a dump," he answered as elegantly as ever.

"Can it wait?"

"Nope."

The jōnin sighed and flipped the book closed. "Stay here, you two," he addressed his two other students before rising.

Kakashi led Naruto back out into the hallway, walking purposefully down it before making a right at the end. There was no hesitation in his pace as he navigated the maze of corridors, Naruto following close behind.

"So, you know where the bathroom is?" Naruto questioned.

"Of course I do," Kakashi answered, glancing down at him.

"I guess that means you've been here before," the genin guessed.

"Once," Kakashi nodded. "About ten years ago."

"And you still remember where the toilets are?" Naruto seemed legitimately amazed.

"Here's something my sensei taught me," Kakashi said as they rounded a corner, the twin doors of the bathrooms coming into view. "Whenever you find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings, always know where the toilets are."

Naruto stared blankly up at his sensei. "Um, okay." Shaking his head, he swung open the heavy door with the little man painted on it, and let it slam shut behind him.

He had to stop himself from doing a little dance of victory as soon as he stepped in side. On the wall opposite him was window, plenty large enough for him to squeeze through, and on top of that, it was already open, as if in invitation. He couldn't have asked for better luck. With a wide, triumphant grin, he formed the Kage bunshin seal, and a clone popped into existence in front of him. The false Naruto gave him a salute as he climbed up onto the window sill, carefully making sure not to bump into anything. Once he had his leg over, he shot one last grin at the bunshin, and then dropped down to the ground below. The drop was a bit farther than he'd anticipated, and his knees buckled as soon as he landed, making him grunt out loud. Bracing himself against the rough wall, he made his away around the globular building, out to the front.

The two sentries flanking the entrance posed an issue, and so, rather than go through the front gate, he scaled the wall surrounding the administrative office, using his chakra to walk straight up it. At least Kakashi taught him things that were actually useful.

Dropping down to the other side, he found himself face to face with the village, all of its buildings looking like miniature versions of the one he'd just escaped from. He frowned to himself. Getting out here was all well and good, but now what? He had never been to Suna before, and the architectural style here didn't give him much to go on. Any one of these big sandy spheres could have been a restaurant, or a home, or a weapon shop for all he knew. How was he supposed find the one that sold ramen? He stared out at the surrounding buildings for a few moments longer, a crease forming on his forehead under the headband, before shrugging and taking a step forward. Wherever his prized ramen was, he wasn't going to find it by standing around here all day.

000

The sun had finally begun to peek over the towering walls of stone, its heat spilling over like boiling water. The bustling crowds of the early morning had fled the glaring light like roaches caught under a lantern, and only a scattered handful of people remained to weather the late morning. Among them walked a young woman-she would've been a girl, if not for the Suna headband tied around her neck- the four ponytails on the back of her head bobbing with each step. Her face carried the dull look of someone with too little to occupy them, and she let out a yawn as she strolled through dusty road.

Her team hadn't received any missions to day, and on one hand that was a small blessing. No missions meant she didn't have to spend any time with her "teammates" and that was never a bad thing, even if they were her siblings. Yet this had been the third day in a row without a mission, and the lack of work was taking its toll on her. She'd never given much thought to just how much of her life revolved around the fact that she was a shinobi, but finding herself with all this free time and being unable to think of anything to fill it except practicing with her tessen had made that painfully clear. It was getting to the point where even being around her youngest brother seemed almost preferable to this boredom. Almost.

She tugged at the strap securing her giant war fan to her back, the weight of it like a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Baki-sensei had told them that the flow of missions had tapered off recently, and as such they were all being taken up by higher ranking shinobi. She scowled to herself. Even the simple D-ranks were being done by chūnin. She let out a small sigh a she reached the end of the road, the great split in the mountain walls leading directly ahead. Of course it was obvious why there were so few missions coming into the village lately. Whenever a foreign client started looking around for shinobi, Konoha always seemed to be the first place they looked, and anyone who did look at Suna quickly decided that it was better to look elsewhere. There was never any exact reason given for this, but one look at how the battle scarred, thinly populated Suna compared against the fat and prosperous Konoha made it obvious.

"Hey, do you guys sell ramen here?" she heard a young, unfamiliar voice ask to her left. She turned, and her face soured slightly upon locating its source. It seemed merely thinking of the devil was enough, as right before her stood one of the shinobi of that very village. No one in the world could fail to recognize that headband.

"No we don't" came the gruff reply from within the stand. "And even if we did I sure as hell wouldn't sell it to you."

"What?" the blond Konoha nin demanded, raising a fist in outrage. "Why not, you jackass?" He pounded his fist on the counter. "I've got plenty of money, so you can't treat me like some bum!"

"I don't care how much money you've got," the grizzled old owner of the stand answered, glaring at him through one eye. "As long as you have that headband on it's not worth its weight in sand." With that, he slammed the shutter closed, almost catching the young shinobi's hand as he did so.

The boy, because headband or no, he couldn't have been older than her youngest brother, crossed his arms and grumbled to himself, before turning and catching sight of her. The frown on his face deepened to a full on scowl at the sight of her staring at him.

"What do you want?" he challenged, crossing his arms. "You gonna ask me what I'm doing in Suna too?"

"It's a fair question," she countered. "Shinobi aren't allowed in other villages without special permission."

"Well gee, I wonder why I'm here then," the boy rolled his eyes. "I'm here on special mission, straight from the Hokage himself." He puffed up at that.

"And you think it's a good idea to just blab that to a foreign kunoichi in the middle of the street?" She smirked and shook her head. "I guess things must be pretty bad in Konoha for the Hokage to resort to someone as incompetent as you."

"Wha-" the blond spluttered, his face going red. "Who the hell asked you anyway? The Hokage thinks I'm a great shinobi. In fact," he stuck his nose into the air. "He's pretty much already picked me to be the next Hokage."

She couldn't help bursting out in a fit of giggles at that, her shoulders shaking as she covered her mouth. The sheer smugness with which he made that claim could only be taken as a joke.

"Sure kid, you keep on believing that," she said, still chuckling. Turning away from the boy, she gave another rueful shake of her head. Honestly, how had someone like him ever made into the shinobi ranks? Didn't Konoha have standards?

"Hey wait!" she heard him call behind her as she began walking away.

She halted in her tracks and looked back, her cheer evaporating like spilled water on the sands. "What?"

"Uh," he brought his hand to the back of his head. "It's just that I can't find anywhere around here that has ramen, and you know this place, so..."

She frowned at him. "And I should help you because-?"

"Why not?" the boy began, matching her frown with one of his own. "Why's everyone here acting like they've got a problem with me? I ain't ever even been here before."

"It's your fault for going around our village wearing that headband," she nodded to his forehead. "What did you expect?"

"Eh?" he scratched the side of his head. "What, do you guys have some problem with Konoha nin?"

"Yes."

"Why?" the young Konoha nin actually looked hurt at her admission.

"I'm not going to stand here and discuss history with you," she answered coldly, crossing her arms to match him. "Just don't expect the people here to be as friendly to as they are in Konoha."

The blond snorted. "Yeah, sure, but that doesn't mean you have to be a jerk for no reason."

She gave him small smile. "It does, actually. Bye." With a wave, she turned back around and began walking away again. But once more, she halted in her tracks, this time not because of the blond behind her.

Coming down the far end of the street with the slow, deliberate pace of a coyote stalking its prey, was the unmistakeable figure of Gaara. She froze up at the sight of him, mentally cursing her misfortune. Of all the places for him turn up, of course it would be here and now. Already, she could feel that familiar knotting in her stomach, as if she had suddenly found herself balanced on a tightrope over a pit of sharks. A single wrong word, a glance that lingered a bit too long, a single sudden movement at the wrong time, that was all it took. Sometimes it didn't take anything at all for him to fix those black rimmed eyes of his on his victim, like two pieces of ice in his skull, and then- She suppressed a shudder. Showing fear now was the worst thing she could do. It was always the people who recoiled from him who died first.

Schooling her features into what she hoped was indifference, she waited for him to approach. His head was tilted down, and it didn't seem like he'd noticed her yet. Hopefully he'd pass her by without a word.

"Hey, who's that?"

_Oh no._

The Konoha nin was still here! What the hell was he doing? Didn't he have enough sense to vacate the area when Gaara approached? No, of course he didn't. He didn't even know who Gaara was, the lucky bastard. Which meant he didn't know to not set Gaara off, which meant he was probably going to be killed if he stayed. He, a foreign nin here on a mission from his Kage, was going to be killed in Suna by one of Suna's shinobi. Even if Gaara didn't immediately turn around and kill her next, her father most certainly would for allowing it happen. Or she would die facing the armies that would inevitably come swarming from Konoha to punish such a transgression.

Gaara was close enough now that she could see his lips move as he muttered to himself, never a good sign. She needed to handle this quickly and deftly if she was to avert disaster.

"You know, on second thought," she spun around, putting on her friendliest smile. "I do know a place around here that serves some pretty great ramen."

"Really?" the boy's face brightened, but then his eyes narrowed. "What changed your mind?"

"Oh, nothing really," she answered casually, fighting down the panic that was rising her chest. "Just hearing you talk about ramen made me want some too. So how about it?"

"Uh, sure."

"Great!" she said quite a bit too loudly. Without another word, she grabbed the boy by the wrist and took off down the road.

"Hey, wait a sec," he called, tugging futilely against her iron grip. She didn't acknowledge his complaint, dragging him down the street at nearly a full on sprint. He shot a glance behind him as he stumbled along behind her, and caught sight of that red haired boy in the middle of the street. He'd stopped and was now standing in the middle of the street, watching them. As the Suna nin pulling him reached the intersection, he glanced up at his face.

For the briefest of seconds, their eyes met, and a chill went down his spine at the sight of those cold teal eyes circled by dark rings. But then they were around the corner, and the redhead was out of sight.

"Hey," he called again. This time, she seemed to notice, and looked back at him. "That weird looking guy with the gourd on his back, that was Gaara, right?"

Her pace slowed, and he nearly collided with the giant fan on her back. "Yeah, it was."

He shot a glance at the corner they'd just rounded. "And I guess that means you're Temari."

"How did-?" she gave an aggravated sigh. Great, just great. Her brother was so infamous that even people in other villages could knew him on sight, and somehow she'd gotten caught up in it as well. God, being on a team with the murderous brat really was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

"And there's someone else, ain't there?" the boy said, scowling. "Uses puppets, wears makeup."

"That's Kankurō," Temari affirmed. If she and Gaara were going to be international stars, then she might as well drag her other brother in too.

"Right," distaste was obvious in his voice. "Met him a while ago."

"Uh-huh," was all she said. She couldn't image that going any better than this.

"So, um," he continued, giving another glance at the road behind him. "Why didn't you ask Gaara if he wanted some ramen too?"

She came to a complete halt, and this time he did collide with her fan, smacking his temple against the metal handle.

"Ow, what?" he clutched his head, wincing.

"That's not funny," Temari shot him a glare.

"What's not funny?" he asked irritably.

"Don't play stupid," she crossed her arms. "You just told me you know who Gaara is."

"I know his name, and what he looks like."

"Well then, let me clue you in," she began, her voice heated. "Gaara is probably the most ruthless, merciless person who's ever lived. People around here call him a demon, and for good reason. If you value you life, then you'll keep far, _far _away from him while you're here, understand?"

"They call him a demon?" the blond's face darkened.

"Yes, because he murders anyone who gets in his way, hell, even people who don't get in his way," she grabbed his arm and gave it a tug. "Now, come on, we need to get out of here in case he comes this way."

"No," his face was set, determined. "I want to talk to him."

"Wh-What?" Temari sputtered. She had to have heard him wrong. No one could be that stupid, surely. Yet he'd already turned around, and was now marching off to his death. Swearing to herself, she chased after him. "Didn't you hear what I said? He's a monster!"

He shot her a vicious glare as the word "monster" escaped from her mouth, but said nothing as he made his way back to Gaara. The panic which had been simmering within her since she first saw her little brother boiled over. She grabbed him by his shoulder and spun him around.

"Listen to me, you idiot!" she all but screamed at him. "If you go over there you are going to fucking die!"

"Why? Just because you think he's some kinda demon?" he lifted his chin at her. "What if you're wrong?"

"What if I'm wrong?" she repeated, gaping at him. "I've seen him kill people, tear them limb from limb and grind them into paste!"

He paled slightly, but shook his head and continued on his way. "Yeah, well, he's a ninja, isn't he?"

Temari stood, completely stunned as he headed back to the intersection. How could thick-headedness like that last in the gene pool? Her lips pulled back into snarl and she reached for her fan. If he was too brain dead to listen to reason, then she'd just have to do this the hard way.

She reached behind her shoulder and grabbed the handle of her tessen, sliding it off her back. With a flick of the wrist, it spread open, and she brought it up in preparation for a swing, just enough to knock that blond lemming off his feet. But right as she was about to let loose, Gaara came around the corner, and it was as if she had turned to stone. She stood stock still, fan arced back, as her youngest brother walked towards them. His eyes were locked on the Konoha nin.

Her arm dropped limply to her side, the edge of the tessen digging into the sand, as the two of them approached each other. If she ran now, the though floated idly through her mind, she might be able to deny responsibility later. Her legs didn't seem willing to go along with this however, and she could only watch as the calamity unfolded.

"So, you're Gaara," the boy said, his eyes tracing over the _Ai _kanji carved just above the Suna nin's hairless brow. He gave the other boy his warmest smile. "I'm-"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara rasped out, his voice dry and brittle as bones left out in the sands. Those flat, teal eyes bored into his own.

"Uh, yeah, that's me," Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What, am I famous around here or something?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara stated again, and this time his eyes narrowed as his arms crossed over his narrow chest. "I know who you are, and what you'll do."

"Huh?" Naruto was totally lost. "What I'll do?"

"You'll try to get in my way, to take away my purpose," Gaara's voice dropped low, as if were speaking to himself. Every syllable ground out, like pebbles being crushed in his throat. "To take away Mother."

Finally, a bit of wariness managed to surface in Naruto, and he took a small step back. "Look, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but I'm not gonna do anything to your mom-"

"I wont let you," Gaara snarled, his eyes wild and shining like a cornered beast. A muffled hissing sound emanated from the gourd slung on his back, as if there was an angry snake contained within, and the sand at their feet began swirling. The red-haired boy took a step forward, baring his teeth. "I wont let you end my existence!"

The mouth of Gaara's gourd burst open, and a thick cloud of sand spilled out, arcing over his head. Before Naruto could so much take in the sight, it lashed forward with all the ferocity and precision of a taijutsu strike, knocking him off his feet. Naruto never made it to the ground, as the sand coiled around him, squeezing his ribs like a python, and lifted him into the air.

"Hey! What're you doing?" he cried, struggling against the sand that was threatening to swallow him completely. Wriggling his arms uselessly, he managed to catch sight of Gaara through the sand, and his heart froze in his chest. The redhead's lips were pulled back far enough to expose his gums, and his eyes wide and manic.

Gaara held his hand up over his head, little thrills going down his spine as he could _feel _his prey struggling against the sand. Mother was thirsty, and his blood would be the perfect offering. He slowly began to close his fingers into a fist.

"Die, Uzumaki Naruto."


End file.
